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Just in graphic terms, I dislike the look of most graffiti.  But I do wonder what exactly drives people to produce it.  I use to think that most graffiti was done by gang bangers, but references that I have looked at say there is no stereotypical profile of a graffiti maker.  However, I am skeptical of that assertion.  I'll bet they have a lot in common.  Graffiti itself seems like a quest for individual recognition, so it does not surprise me to hear graffiti makers as a group proclaim that they cannot be categorized.    The reason that I am curious about this is that there seems to be kind of schizophrenia among lawmakers and city officials that you would not expect in relation to other types of crime.  There are a lot of apologists for graffiti makers among those who do not make graffiti.  Why would law-abiding citizens defend graffiti?  Even members of this forum seem to cut graffiti makers some slack.  Oh sure they want to cut their hands off, but that is nothing compared to what they would do to grade crossing transgressors.  One expression of this schizophrenia is the subtle appeasement of graffiti makers by inadequate law enforcement on one hand, and on the other hand, a crackdown on property owners demanding that they remove graffiti within a short time or face a fine.  It almost amounts to shifting the blame from the perpetrator to the victim.        Why is there a wish to publicly accommodate graffiti and legitimatize it by providing legal public surfaces?  There is something oddly politically correct about graffiti; a kind of rage against the machine.  I don't think it is news to graffiti makers that what they are doing is illegal.  I would guess that if it were somehow made legal, the graffiti makers would not consider it to be graffiti.  Part of the graffiti "art" is the illegal theatre.Here are some questions and answers:<a href="http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti_questions.html">http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti_questions.html</a>
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