Teenagers,Territory and the Appropriation of Space

Through their legal status as ‘minors’, American teenagers are legally prohibited from property ownership. In order to claim places, therefore, young people must appropriate and occupy the places of others. This makes territorial markers and behavior the primary mode of spatial claiming among teens, but adults tend not to recognize the legitimacy of territory in a tenured or ownershipbased spatial system. This article explores some territorial modes of place-making, the conflicts that arise between youth and adults over their places, and the responses by teens to increased restriction and spatial surveillance of the American landscape.