Club studies: methodological perspectives for researching drug use in a central youth social space

Abstract

Club studies are sociological investigations of youth drug use in the social context of the club. By being present at the club, the researcher tries to gain access to a somehow hidden population of drug users who only to a lesser extent – or not at all – perceive their drug use as problematic. This is the large group of people who primarily consider their drug use as a leisure activity, and thus as a means for deriving pleasure. In spite of impressive club studies conducted in both Great Britain and the USA, it seems that, broadly speaking, previous efforts can be characterised as either very broad and/or quantitative or very particular, sub‐cultural and exclusively qualitative. Through a methodological discussion of these studies, this article suggests a mixed‐methods approach to club studies that combines quantitative data, qualitative interviews and ethnography conducted in the club space. By introducing the concept of ‘socionautics’, this article suggests that the researcher travels into the social landscape of young people, clubs and drugs and utilises her ethnographic observations in interviews. An approach like this would cast light upon this very central part of youth leisure life in a systematic and detailed way.

Keywords:

• drugs
• methodology
• clubbing
• sociology
• recreational use
• socionautics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Rockwool Foundation for funding the study ‘Youth, Drugs and Alcohol’ of which the present study is part.

Notes

1. International research indicates that drug use is tied to certain music and lifestyle preferences, for instance dance/house music and DJ‐based music (North & Hargreaves, 2007). This is exactly the kind of music which is to be found in many nightclubs.

2. See Ben Malbon on the experience of clubbing (e.g. Malbon, 1999), Phil Chatterton and Robert Hollands on the restructuring of the night‐time economy (Chatterton & Hollands, 2003), Phil Hadfield on the regulation of nightlife activities (Hadfield, 2009) and Sarah Thornton on taste cultures and distinction (Thornton, 1996).

3. According to Sarah Thornton, the profile of the music played at the clubs is one of the key criteria in determining whether a club can be characterised as mainstream or sub‐cultural (Thornton, 1996). However, other central components are the sexual orientation of the guests as well as the dress code of the clubs.

4. Within this tradition, it is argued that youth cultures are not comprehensible within the traditional concept of subculture because their identities and styles are either spread across different spectacular cultures or are less spectacular (Bennett, 1999; Weinzierl & Muggleton, 2003; Willis, 2005). Following Sarah Thornton, Steve Redhead has suggested ‘club cultures’ as the new concept for understanding contemporary youth cultures (Redhead, 1997).

5. In a study on teenage drinking and partying in home situations (house parties), Demant and Østergaard (2007) show an example of a statistical analysis focusing on the social situation instead of structural factors as explanations of what characterises a good party. The analysis found that local factors of atmosphere, the number of people attending the party and events at the party (having kissed, puking, etc.) explain more about the drinking than socio‐demographic factors.

6. This article will not engage in the ethical issues of the debate, but merely relate to the methodological aspects of participation in this specific field.

7. See also Measham and Moore (2006) for a discussion of the use of insider knowledge in club studies.

8. Conversely in Anderson’s study of male adolescents in juvenile detention, focus groups were used as the initial methodological step that subsequently needed verification in individual interviews (Anderson, 1999).

9. See also Silverman for a discussion of ‘naturally occurring data’ (observations, documents, etc.) in contrast to ‘manufactured data’ (various kinds of interviews) (Silverman, 2007).

10. Introspection as a method for understanding the subjective effects of drugs is not new within the medical sciences, and is, to some degree, still used (Shulgin, 1986; Shulgin & Shulgin, 1991). However, the psychonautic approach puts greater emphasis on the exact experience of the drug. In addition, the notion of the psychonaut is, in some cases, also used to describe a recreational drug user who favours exploring new and experimental (often hallucinogenic) drugs (Korf, Nabben, & Benschop, 2003).

11. It is a central argument in most modern ethnography that even though the researcher decides not to participate in the field at all, and simply make observations, he or she will always influence the scene. The presence of the researcher influences the field and thus the data that can be obtained from it (Spradley, 1980).