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Shame and Embarrassment as Deterrents to Noncompliance with the Law

The Case of an Antilittering Campaign
  • Harold G. Grasmick
  • Robert J. BursikJr.
  • Karyl A. Kinsey
Chapter
Part of the The Springer Series in Social Clinical Psychology book series (SSSC)

Abstract

The Keep America Beautiful campaign and the events surrounding it in the late 1960s and early 1970s generated concern about the problems created by littering not only among the public and government officials but also among behavioral scientists. The past two decades have produced a wealth of research on littering as well as other environmental behaviors (e. g., Casey & Lloyd, 1977; Clark, Burgess, & Hendee, 1972; Durdan, Reeder, & Hecht, 1985; Geller, Winett, & Everett, 1982; Geller, Witmer, & Orebaugh, 1976; Geller, Witmer, & Tuso, 1977; Gendrich, McNees, Schnelle, Beegle, & Clark, 1982; Krauss, Freedman, & Whitcup, 1978; Levitt & Leventhal, 1986; Powers, Osborne, & Anderson, 1973; Reich & Robertson, 1979; Robinson, 1976). While important insights and policy implications have been developed, the research so far has seemed to overlook the fact that littering is illegal. Thus, researchers have not drawn upon theories from the field of criminology concerning determinants of compliance and noncompliance with the law.

Keywords

Ordinary Little Square Apply Behavior Analysis Oklahoma City Illegal Behavior Litter Removal 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1996

Authors and Affiliations

  • Harold G. Grasmick
  • Robert J. BursikJr.
  • Karyl A. Kinsey

There are no affiliations available

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