Neoliberal Governance and the Homogenization of Substance Use and Risk in Night-Time Leisure Scenes

• NCJ Number: 252249
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 57 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2017 Pages: 483-501
• Author(s): Philip R. Kavanaugh; Tammy L. Anderson
• Date Published: March 2017
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2008-IJ-CX-0004; 2004-IJ-CX-0040
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: The Relationship Between Individual Disposition and Social Context in Criminal Offending and Victimization: A Storyline Approach; Exploring the drugs/crime connection within the electronic dance and hip hop nightclub scenes.

Annotation

Since trends in substance use and risks of harm are partially contingent on the twin regulatory apparatuses of government and economy, this study integrated prior research on the restructuring of the night-time cultural economy, the state's "war on drugs," and the macro-level production of risk, using Philadelphia's night-time leisure scene as a case example.

Abstract

The study considered how the reorganization of night-time leisure has affected substance use among young adults, such that use patterns and risks of harm are homogenized across nightlife attendees, independent of their genre-scene affiliations. Theoretically, the study aimed to advance the risk-environment paradigm of drug-related harm by considering direct-contact, predatory forms of victimization that result from macro-level shifts that reflect the contradictions of neoliberal governance. (Publisher abstract modified)