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Document Title: Exploring the Drugs-Crime Connection within the Electronic Dance Music and Hip-Hop Nightclub Scenes
Author(s): Tammy L. Anderson, Ph.D. ; Philip R. Kavanaugh ; Ronet Bachman ; Lana D. Harrison
Document No.: 219381
Date Received: August 2007
Award Number: 2004-IJ-CX-0040

Exploring the Drug-Crime Connection Report (PDF)

Purpose and Objectives. The main research objective of project 2004-IJ-CX-0040 was to explore how the cultural ethos, behavioral norms, activities, and individual and group identities (i.e., subcultural phenomena), inherent to the electronic dance music (EDM- trance, house, and techno music) and the hip hop/rap (HH) nightclub scenes in Philadelphia, impacted the relationship between alcohol, drugs, and crime, with additional attention to victimization (i.e., the ADC + V link). These two music scenes provide a major source of leisure activity for many young adults today, yet the subcultures surrounding them are disparate and have been linked to diverse social problems, including alcohol and illegal drug abuse, criminal activity and victimization. This understudied, but increasingly popular social phenomenon has the potential to expand the scope of the drugs/crime debate to settings and populations not previously studied and to increasingly salient issues in contemporary society.

Secondary objectives include elaborating on how the ADC + V relationship varies by two dimensions: the demographic make-up of participants (e.g., race/ethnicity and gender) and their involvement with and commitment to the subcultures surrounding the respective nightclub scenes. This second dimension has the potential to establish a typology or profile of EDM and HH fans, which can be used to advance both an academic understanding of this important youth culture phenomena and produce effective prevention or intervention strategies to circumvent personal and social consequences.

Research Questions. Main research questions include: 1) What are the patterns and meanings of drug and alcohol use among participants in these settings and what consequences arise from them? 2) What are the patterns of criminal activity among participants and how are they experienced? 3) What are the patterns of victimization among participants and how is it experienced? How does victimization differ from that documented in other settings of criminological interest? 4) What is the nature of the relationship between alcohol, drugs, crime and victimization and how do subcultural phenomena impact it? 5) How do extant theories fare in explaining the ADC + V link among the diverse groups of participants in both nightclub settings?

We begin our report with a discussion of the two music scenes we studied: HH and EDM, giving special attention to the problems and concerns they present to the criminal justice system and other social service agencies. Next, we discuss the methodology we used to address our research questions, including some of the issues we faced while doing the fieldwork and the potential contributions and limitations of it. The major section of the report reviews our substantive findings. We organize them by the research questions listed above. Specifically, we first review the drugs, crime, and victimization patterns we found. The findings synthesize several types of crime information: self-reports of offending and victimization, and reports of having witnessed others committing crime or being victimized at club events from in-depth interviews and field notes from direct observation at club events. Included in our discussion of the alcohol, drugs, crime and victimization patterns are demographic variation where we found it (addressing our project’s secondary objectives). Next, we address questions #4 and #5 about the alcohol, drugs and crime link at nightclub events. Here, we review our findings and offer contributions to extant criminological theories. Recommendations for further research are also discussed. We end the report with policy recommendations for officials, practitioners, and private interests.

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