Victoria Wilson-Merritt

About Us: Victoria Wilson-Merritt

Victoria Wilson-Merritt, BA, MA
Sociologist, Criminologist, Company Spokesperson

Victoria Wilson-Merritt authored Anomic Solution's first product, the children's book Graffiti In Tahiti. She has also written The Keys to Successful Abatement Programming, and related articles such as Hip Hop Organization: A Subcultural Approach, The Social Organization of the Hip Hop Subculture, and The Need to Understand Youth Subcultures.

Ms. Wilson-Merritt received a master's degree in sociology with an emphasis in deviance and crime from The College of William and Mary in 1995. Since that time, she has extensively researched graffiti production. Victoria conducted numerous interviews with known graffiti writers in New York City, Long Island, and surveyed youth about participation in graffiti vandalism.

She gained the trust of street groups and gangs by hanging from street signs, scaling bridges and water towers, and racing between train tracks. Based on this first-hand research, Victoria developed offender profiles and youth diversion programs that helped to significantly reduce recidivism and overall crime rates in New York City and other localities.

Ms. Wilson-Merritt has been interviewed on such programs as Good Morning America, 20/20, and CNN and worked as a consultant to Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Victoria was responsible for enhancing and promoting the new Graffiti Hurts program and assisting communities to develop best practices against graffiti vandalism.

She coordinates nation-wide conferences and trade shows to enhance graffiti abatement efforts. These events have allowed municipalities to compare and contrast preventive programming, new technologies, and rapidly changing subcultural patterns.

Recognizing the need for public education, Victoria assists in the development of educational curriculums, preventive techniques, and re-directive activities. Ms. Wilson-Merritt currently speaks on graffiti prevention throughout the United States and internationally.