The Flinders University of South Australia
St liool of Social Sciences
A Report on a Study of Vandalism in Two Selected Regions in Adelaide
by Allan Patience
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
A REPORT ON A STUDY OF JUVENILE VANDALISM IN TWO SELECTED REGIONS IN ADELAIDE
Allan Patience Senior Lecturer in Sociology School of Social Sciences The Flinders University of South Australia Bedford Park, S.A. 5042
Australia
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements I II III IV V VI INTRODUCTION AIMS OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FINDINGS RECOMMENDATIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acknowledgements This research has been funded by generous grants from the Criminology Research Council and The Flinders University of South Australia. The difficult task of interviewing (the central part of the research) was performed with exemplary sensitivity and skill by Pamela McNeil and Robyn Schutte. This report should be read in conjunction with the report by Robyn Schutte (Schutte, 1982) which is a comprehensive and intelligent reflection on part of the research. Sue Manser has coped with the onerous task of typing up an unreadable manuscript with her usual forebearance and good humour.
INTRODUCTION Juvenile delinquency is - in very broad terms - the non-conformity of legally "irresponsible" adolescents to prevailing norms, customs and views on law and order in society. In the West the period of adolescence
has come to be viewed as one of stress and crisis as children adjust themselves, and are required by the wider society to adjust, to adulthood. Some social scientists argue that this adjustment process - one in which recalcitrance, violence, bewilderment and anger are often displayed - is a consequence of an interplay of physical (hormonal development, the
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emergence of sex drives, physical growth) and cultural processes (e.g., Freeman, 1983; for a critique of Freeman see Patience and
