Understanding the Youth and Young Adult Perspective of Raving in Alberta
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Understanding the youth and young adult perspective of raving in Alberta Technical report RESEARCH SERVICES Understanding the youth and young adult perspective of raving in Alberta Technical report Prepared by Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) AADAC Research Services: Colette Fluet-Howrish, Susan Hutton, Z’Anne Harvey-Jansen Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the interviewees and participant observers who shared their experiences of the rave scene with us. We thank the members of the Rave Advisory Committee: members of the rave community, AADAC area office and Research Services staff, staff from agencies funded by AADAC, and Brian Wilson, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia. Committee members attended rave events with us; read through various drafts of the report; discussed the findings, conclusions and implica- tions in our meetings; and shared their expertise with us. Brian Wilson reviewed the report and offered us valuable feedback. Suggested citation Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. (2004). Understanding the youth and young adult perspective of raving in Alberta (Technical report). Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Author. September 2004 Table of Contents Executive summary ..................................................................5 I. Introduction ..........................................................................13 II. Methodology ........................................................................14 Data collection ......................................................................................14 Data analysis ........................................................................................20 Ethics ....................................................................................................20 Limitations ............................................................................................21 III. Overview of the rave literature ..........................................22 IV. Rave events in Alberta ......................................................23 What is a rave? A note on terminology ................................................23 Where do rave events take place?........................................................26 How has the rave scene evolved in Alberta? ........................................27 Summary ..............................................................................................33 V. Understanding who raves and the experience of raving ..........................................................................34 Who raves? ..........................................................................................34 Why rave? Understanding the experience of raving ............................38 Why stop raving? ..................................................................................50 Summary ..............................................................................................52 VI. Substance use of youth in the rave scene ........................53 Alcohol use ..........................................................................................53 Drugs use ..............................................................................................54 Drug use and the rave experience ........................................................57 Drug users, not abusers ........................................................................60 Heavy drug users/drug abusers ............................................................60 Tobacco use ..........................................................................................73 Summary ..............................................................................................75 VII. Prevention and harm reduction in the rave scene ............76 Participants’ suggestions for content of harm reduction messages ..........................................................................76 Participants’ suggestions for format of harm reduction messages ..........................................................................79 Observations of harm reduction in the AADAC study............................80 Harm reduction groups in Alberta ..........................................................81 Participants’ views of credible sources of drug information ..................84 Summary................................................................................................86 VIII. Discussion ........................................................................87 IX. Conclusions ......................................................................90 References ..............................................................................92 APPENDIX I: Rave advisory committee members ....................95 APPENDIX II: Timeline of insiders’ involvement in the Alberta rave scene ........................................................96 APPENDIX III: Letter of information ............................................97 APPENDIX IV: Consent checklist ..............................................99 APPENDIX V: Timeline of Canadian research on raves ..........100 APPENDIX VI: Rave music ......................................................102 List of tables and figures Table 1: Participants in AADAC study ..................................................18 Table 2: Typology of rave events ..........................................................24 Table 3: Percentage of respondents reporting various frequencies of use, N=48 ......................................................................................55 Table 4: Comparison of percentage of respondents who had tried substances ..........................................................................56 Table 5: Smoking status for Albertans, Canadian Community Health Survey 2000/2001 ..................................................................74 Figure 1: “Rave” articles in the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, 1993-2003 ................................................................29 Figure 2: Age of respondents who completed Rave Safe survey, N=394 ....................................................................................35 Figure 3: Substances ever tried by Rave Safe survey respondents, N=320 ..........................................................................54 Figure 4: Long-term positive effects of respondents’ drug use, N=48 ..................................................................................64 Figure 5: Long-term negative side effects of respondents’ drug use, N=48 ..................................................................................66 Figure 6: Drug risk ratings by survey respondents, N=173 to 226........69 Understanding the youth and young adult perspective of raving in Alberta – Technical report AADAC | RESEARCH SERVICES Executive summary People have often asked me what drew me into the rave culture. In the beginning, it was curiosity. I wanted to know what they were like, what went on. It was like a strange secret society that I wanted to experience. What kept me going back was the sense of community. There was so much talent to watch and learn from at raves...Everyone was always so open and eager to share his or her knowledge. Every party was a huge celebration, an event to look forward to. (Alberta raver) Purpose of study The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) conducted this qualitative study to answer the broad research question, “What is the youth experience of the rave scene in Alberta?”1 Researchers sought to gain an understanding of the rave scene in Alberta from the perspective of the youth who attend raves. The insights obtained in the study would help practitioners to refine services to youth. Methods AADAC used a qualitative research approach to learn about the culture of the rave scene in Alberta from a youth perspective. Data was collected for this research primarily through participant observations (48 reports from 16 events), and in-depth interviews (21 interviews). The transcriptions from the participant observations and interviews were analyzed to identify major themes. As well, this study draws on survey data collected by Rave Safe, a harm reduction group in Edmonton, and document analysis of relevant newspaper articles. What is a rave? One common definition is that raves are all-night dance parties attended by youth who dance to repetitive electronic music played by celebrated DJs (disc jockeys) on mobile sound systems at clandestine venues, often involving the liberal use of drugs but usually no alcohol use. Raves are distinct from regular bars and clubs in the type of music played (techno or dance music), and in the atmosphere or “vibe” of parties. This study found that the rave scene in Alberta has evolved and no longer includes only the classic notion of raves set out in the above definition. As the scene grew in popularity and later became regulated by city bylaws, rave events spilled into the regular and after-hours club settings, and attract- ed corporate sponsorship. Some rave events feature the music but lack the culture’s philosophical ideals of peace, love, unity and respect (PLUR), while other events include both. 1 We are using the term “youth” in a generic sense in this report to refer to people in their early teens to mid-20s. 5 Understanding the youth and young adult perspective of raving in Alberta – Technical report AADAC | RESEARCH SERVICES Who raves? Raves attract mainly middle-class people, in their mid-teens to late twenties.