Evaluating harm-reduction initiatives in a night-time economy and music festival context

ABSTRACT

Pubs, clubs, and music festivals are places characterised by increased alcohol consumption. Drinkaware, a UK alcohol awareness charity, delivered two crime-prevention initiatives designed to reduce alcohol-related harm among young adults: the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative implemented at night-time-economy (NTE) venues, and more recently, the Drinkaware “Festival Crew”. This paper uses mixed methods to present (a) an outcome evaluation of the societal impact of the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative using routinely collected data; and (b) a process evaluation examining the transferability of the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative to a music festival-context. Findings indicate that the Drinkaware Crew occupy a unique gap in existing NTE and festival infrastructures, however, a number of improvements to the data available are recommended to ensure that such initiatives are thoroughly evidence-based.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual harassment
• licenced venues
• alcohol-related harm
• process evaluation
• outcome evaluation

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Headline artists across both festivals included (Nostalgic pop (4% of total interactions), alternative (9%), punk (13%), modern pop (15%), nostalgic rock (16%), EDM (19%), indie rock (24%), (each musical genre played for an equal amount of time – one festival day).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Drinkaware Trust. Drinkaware is primarily funded by voluntary and unrestricted donations from UK alcohol producers, retailers and supermarkets, based on an agreement between the UK government and the alcohol industry. The funders of Drinkaware have no involvement in or influence over the activities of the charity which is governed by an independent Board of trustees. Drinkaware had no involvement in the analysis and findings reported in this work.

Notes on contributors

Laura Garius

Laura Garius is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and a member of the Quantitative and Spatial Criminology (QSC) research group at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Laura is part of the ESRC-funded ‘Violence Trends’ project and her doctorate modelled violent victimisation risk in a night-time economy context.

Bethany Ward

Bethany Ward is a PhD researcher, sessional Lecturer in Criminology at NTU, and member of the QSC group. Bethany’s doctoral research models the relationship between the risk of experiencing victimisation and fear of crime.

Kirsty Teague

Kirsty Teague is a Lecturer in Criminology at NTU. Her doctoral research focuses on the reintegration and rehabilitation of individuals with sexual convictions. Kirsty’s research is conducted in conjunction with the Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit at NTU.

Andromachi Tseloni

Andromachi Tseloni is a Professor of Quantitative Criminology and leads the QSC group at NTU. Andromachi led the ESRC-funded projects ‘Violence Trends’ and ‘Burglary and Security’. The latter received the Office for National Statistics Research Excellence Award 2019.