A24—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 3,1981
BY SHEILA MILLER
LITITZ Vandalism is
the leading crime comitted
in the /rural community,
reports G. Howard Phillips
of the Ohio State Rural
■Crime Prevention Depart
ment.
In studies conducted at
Ohio State, Phillips showed
38 percent of all crimes
committed agamst rural
residents’ properties were
acts of vandalism
Looking back at FBI
records for the years 1972
and 1973, he discovered a
15 7 percent increase in the
number of rural vandalism
arrests in the U S And, of
those arrested for the of
fense, 59 percent of the of
fenders were under 18 years
of age
His delving into the
records also revealed that
from 1972 to 1973, the
number of persons under 18
years of age arrested for
rural vandalism increased
25 percent, with the sixteen
year old age group being the
largest.
As a result of these sur
prising statistics, a study
was undertaken at three
rural Ohio high schools to
survey sophomore students
in an effort to discover who
was committing these acts of
willful and malicious
destruction of property and
why.
The findings of the study
disclosed that 52 percent of
the students had committed
one or more acts of van
dalism. Thirty-seven per
cent of the girls reported
having been involved in
vandalism while 68 percent
of the boy students admitted
involvement.
The study pointed out
SCHLESSMAN'S
Vandalism tops list of rural crimes
there was no relationship
between whether a student
committed an act of van
dalism and if he or she was a
member of a religious
organization. And, it didn’t
seem to make any difference
whether the student was a
hometown boy or girl or a
short-term resident
One factor that did point
towards being significant
was the marital status of
parents
“Rural high school
sophomores are more likely
to have committed acts ot
vandalism if the head of the
household where they
resided was divorced,
separated, or widowed when
compared to students from
households where the head
was married,’’ reports
Phillips
The study also pointed to
the fact that students whose
family was headed by the
mother or a parent over the
age of 50 tended to be more
involved in vandalism.
The survey findings also
showed the crime was most
often committed when the
students were responding to
peer pressure and had been
the drinking Although most
of students traveled to the
scene of the crime in a car
(47 percent), it was reported
36 percent walked to the
vandalized site.
The findings also revealed
the most frequent time for
vandalism was in the fall (31
percent), on weekends (59
percent), and usually in the
afternoon (36 percent).
And, Phillips reported
over half of the vandabsm
acts were done “for the fun
of it”, with 12 percent done
to get even”
Phillips attributes this
Beware those high school sophomores
increasing rate of vandalism
among teenageis to a
number ot things
"... these students have
low regard for the rights of
other people to own or hold
property unmolested It
perhaps suggests these
rights have not been taught
to modern youth or at least
they have not fully accepted
them
‘Perhaps a low regard for
others’ property rights is a
spm-off of contemporary
affluence. As more people
have more property,
perhaps it has less meaning
or value as when it was
scarce. ’
He also cites modern
transportation, con
solidation of schools, an
increasing number of one
spouse households, the
declining sense of belonging
to a community, and less
defined roles for adolescents
as part of the “rising
phenomenon of vandalism in
rural areas”
"Vandalism used to be
thought of as pranks,” he
said “Now it’s a serious
problem It costs taxpayers
over $6OO million to repair
and replace the damages
and losses for vandalism
committed in rural schools
"What’s changed is ac
cessibility.
“Building farm to market
roads has been a popular
political idea since World
War 11. However, the
transportation system also
allows the town and city
residents a means of
traveling to the country,
committing criminal acts,
and getting away
anonymously.
'Added to that is the fact
that m our affluent society,
more students have their
own vehicles and too much
time on their hands.
‘ In years past, the farmer
dominated the rural com
munity now the non-farm
residents have integrated
into the social setting. It
used to be a crime control
when everybody knew
everybody now there are a
lot of strangers in the new
population mix ”
And recognizing a
potential criminal is no easy
task, he added. The Ohio
State research team
characterized offenders as
follows
74 percent are under 30
years of age;
16 and 19 year olds are
the most often arrested age
group;
87 percent are male;
27 percent are students,
60 percent are urban
residents;
64 percent are un
married;
45 percent are arrested
in a group;
23 percent are in
toxicated,
31 percent have
previous records known to
the police,
93 percent are white.
What are the types of
things taken, damaged or
destroyed by rural thieves or
vandals’
The number one thing on
their list, says Phillips, is
gasoline. Automotive related
items are the highest per
centage of stolen or van
dalized goods, ranking 21
percent
Following automotive
items are tools, 16 percent,
residential belongings, 10
percent, recreational items,
8 percent, money, 8 percent;
BOYD'S 78 AT
televisions and radios, 7
percent; mailboxes, 7
percent, appliances, 6
percent, jewelry and guns, 6
percent; animals, 3 percent,
and food and drink, 3 per-
THIN
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In next week's issue of
Lancaster Farming, we’ll
take a look at where rural
crime is likely to occur and
what can be done to
discourage it.