Graffiti has communicative value, and it is a medium through which individuals voice their innermost thoughts, concerns, and beliefs. Restroom graffiti or \"latrinalia\" offers a unique space for graffiti writers to deliver their messages. The sole focus of this paper is to examine the meaning and communicative value of latrinalia as found in the men's restrooms of a medium-sized university. For this study, restrooms in 17 buildings were visited and a total of 965 instances of graffiti were recorded and codified into 14 different categories. The four most common categories of latrinalia were signature, sexual, artistic, and discriminatory. Latrinalia was found written in a number of locations including doors, stall walls, fire alarms, and toilet paper dispensers with the most significant portion placed inside restroom stalls. Latrinalia was created via a variety of tools from writing instruments to sharp objects. A majority of the latrinalia was etched onto surfaces. Relying on symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework, this study illustrates how latrinalia has meaning and how people use latrinalia as a communicative medium.
","abstract_html":"<p>Graffiti has communicative value, and it is a medium through which individuals voice their innermost thoughts, concerns, and beliefs. Restroom graffiti or "latrinalia" offers a unique space for graffiti writers to deliver their messages. The sole focus of this paper is to examine the meaning and communicative value of latrinalia as found in the men's restrooms of a medium-sized university. For this study, restrooms in 17 buildings were visited and a total of 965 instances of graffiti were recorded and codified into 14 different categories. The four most common categories of latrinalia were signature, sexual, artistic, and discriminatory. Latrinalia was found written in a number of locations including doors, stall walls, fire alarms, and toilet paper dispensers with the most significant portion placed inside restroom stalls. Latrinalia was created via a variety of tools from writing instruments to sharp objects. A majority of the latrinalia was etched onto surfaces. Relying on symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework, this study illustrates how latrinalia has meaning and how people use latrinalia as a communicative medium. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lively, Thomas"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Justice Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:32Z","subjects":["Ethnographic Content Analysis","Graffiti","Latrinalia","Symbolic Interactionism","Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics","Sociology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Thomas Lively"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/392","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lively, Thomas"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Justice Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ethnographic Content Analysis","Graffiti","Latrinalia","Symbolic Interactionism","Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics","Sociology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Thomas Lively"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/392"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Graffiti has communicative value, and it is a medium through which individuals voice their innermost thoughts, concerns, and beliefs. Restroom graffiti or \"latrinalia\" offers a unique space for graffiti writers to deliver their messages. The sole focus of this paper is to examine the meaning and communicative value of latrinalia as found in the men's restrooms of a medium-sized university. For this study, restrooms in 17 buildings were visited and a total of 965 instances of graffiti were recorded and codified into 14 different categories. The four most common categories of latrinalia were signature, sexual, artistic, and discriminatory. Latrinalia was found written in a number of locations including doors, stall walls, fire alarms, and toilet paper dispensers with the most significant portion placed inside restroom stalls. Latrinalia was created via a variety of tools from writing instruments to sharp objects. A majority of the latrinalia was etched onto surfaces. Relying on symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework, this study illustrates how latrinalia has meaning and how people use latrinalia as a communicative medium.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["On the Shithouse Wall: The Communicative Value of Latrinalia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Lively, Thomas"],"dc:description.abstract":["Graffiti has communicative value, and it is a medium through which individuals voice their innermost thoughts, concerns, and beliefs. Restroom graffiti or \"latrinalia\" offers a unique space for graffiti writers to deliver their messages. The sole focus of this paper is to examine the meaning and communicative value of latrinalia as found in the men's restrooms of a medium-sized university. For this study, restrooms in 17 buildings were visited and a total of 965 instances of graffiti were recorded and codified into 14 different categories. The four most common categories of latrinalia were signature, sexual, artistic, and discriminatory. Latrinalia was found written in a number of locations including doors, stall walls, fire alarms, and toilet paper dispensers with the most significant portion placed inside restroom stalls. Latrinalia was created via a variety of tools from writing instruments to sharp objects. A majority of the latrinalia was etched onto surfaces. Relying on symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework, this study illustrates how latrinalia has meaning and how people use latrinalia as a communicative medium.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/392"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Thomas Lively"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Ethnographic Content Analysis","Graffiti","Latrinalia","Symbolic Interactionism","Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics","Sociology"],"dc:title":["On the Shithouse Wall: The Communicative Value of Latrinalia"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Justice Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:32Z"}