Artistic Criminal Child

I am often amazed with the ingenuity and creative licence many youth of today seem to express themselves. Intelligence and identity are often expressed in extremes by teenagers resulting in artistic crimes against society. Of course not all 'artistic crimes' are indictable however their contraversial implications go a long way to provoke conservative ideas and beliefs.

There are for example different groups of graffiti taggers that divide themselves into TM's - "Trouble Makers" and or AC's - "Artistic Criminals".

There are various successful outcomes for the Artistic Criminal and sometimes that success is not entirely about art expression. It seems that the artistic criminal gains the greatest satisfaction by avoiding being caught. Getting away with a particular 'criminal act' is their expression of intelligence and "art". The art of escape is perhaps their success and reward.

Where I live in Australia there is such a thing called "Late Night". This seems to be a social ritual where teenagers gather in large numbers at suburban shopping centres. The most common occurrence at these gatherings is when security personel and teenagers altercate over shopping centre and territorial boundaries. Usually there is one teenager that takes up the challenge to push the limits until he forced to run away fast. When the security guard chases the offender down the street the group of teenagers revel in the engagement. Successs for the teenager is escaping down the road from the security person and living to tell his story.

Being unsuccessful means that the teenager is dragged off by the security person and most likely cautioned or charged with an offence. The teenager can then find himself in counselling and attending any number of youth agency services the government pumps millions of dollars into. I know one teenager who has been caught several times for vandalising the back of bus seats. Unfortunately for him, some vigilant student has caught his creative vandalism each time on a mobile phone camera. It seems that he is not interested in curbing his artistic crimes even though it might mean expulsion from his school. It seems as though his expression of identity via artistic criminality is a normal part of life for him.

Some of the other "criminal artists" in society also tend to push that fine line between the law and artistic expression. Take Madonna's performance in Germany last year where she appeared on a cross on stage. The authorities were considering charging her with the laws restricting religious discrimination. She got away with her art and gained some publicity.

And what of Paris Hilton's recent incarceration for what appears to be an ongoing expression of her Artistic Criminalilty? The artfom of getting away with individual expression through controversy is nothing new and many previous generations have revelled in this form of expression. Why? "Because it feels good" according to some clients I know.

The successful artistic criminal "gets away with it" and like compulsive gamblers are lured back to the challenge of proving their 'win' time and time again because it feels good. Getting busted is a bummer and means being forced into the systems way of doing things for a period of time.

With counselling artistic criminals I have found that there is also a fine line to tread for successful treatment outcomes. Somehow the counsellor needs to find a way to connect with the "artistic criminal child". Establishing therapeutic relationship with this part of the person seems to be the ultimate treatment goal rather than focussing on negative behaviours and anger issues.

Some theorists notably Eric Berne has named the Demon Child as some kind of attached external child ego state "dictator" which allows what when and how things happen with child ego expression however the Artistic Criminal Child is more about an overlapping contamination perhaps best described in structural states of the P1 A1 C1 of the Child Ego State. It is a force to reckon with. It sounds very much like the functional rebellious child, can be mistaken for too much free child however has its origins in Little Professor or A1. My disclaimer for 'tagging' over traditional theories is perhaps my own Artistic Criminal Child.

Kenoath