The Setting

It is important to bring to light the largely under emphasized truths that graffiti can highlight about today’s society. In order to reveal these occurrences, you must gain insight into avenues and perspectives on gang culture not often considered or known by the average person. Those less informed about the depths of graffiti culture can be expected to dismiss it as revolving around a meaningless act of vandalism; as I found myself doing before beginning my research. However when the motivations and circumstances that influence graffiti are brought to surface, new insights will aid in a better understanding and appreciation. In order to gain this deeper understanding, a view into the instrumentality that graffiti allows gangs is necessary. This includes information gathered about gangs when looked at as existing in a separate society. This perspective allows simplification in understanding the role of graffiti techniques and symbols in the gang world. A look into some broader issues and occurrences in American society can be revealed by closer investigation into graffiti's influence on the masses. Lastly, the importance of the recent american social phenomena that is graffiti is assessed from a sociological standpoint.