Exploring the Drugs-Crime Connection within the Electronic Dance Music and Hip-Hop Nightclub Scenes

This was VERY interesting (and very long)... kindof technical at points...but you can look at the table of contents at the beginning and skip to a section that interests you. It was definitely interesting...

(August 2007, Tammy L. Anderson, Ph.D.; Philip R. Kavanaugh; Ronet Bachman; Lana D. Harrison)

This report explores how the cultural ethos, behavioral norms, activities, and individual and group identities (subcultural phenomena), inherent to the electronic dance music (EDM- trance, house, and techno music) and the hip hop/rap (HH) nightclub scenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania impact the relationship between alcohol, drugs, and crime, with additional attention to victimization (the ADC+V relationship). These two music scenes provide a major source of leisure and entertainment 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 also to account for increasingly salient issues in contemporary society.

We also elaborate 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 establishes 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. The main research questions were: 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 victimization 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 the subcultural phenomena associated with these scenes impact it? 5) How do extant theoretical frameworks fare in explaining the ADC+V link among the diverse groups of participants in both nightclub settings?

This study utilized a multi-faceted ethnographic approach, featuring in-depth interviews and ongoing e-mail communications (for six months) with 51 diverse participants (the unit of analysis) in the electronic dance music (EDM) and hip hop/rap (HH) nightclub scenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was triangulated with direct observation of 33 club events, nominated by respondents to provide important organizational structure information of the EDM and HH events.

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(U.S. Dept. of Justice)