In this issue

Citation

Klein, A. (2012), "In this issue", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dat.2012.54412baa.002

In this issue

Article Type: In this issue From: Drugs and Alcohol Today, Volume 12, Issue 2

The relationship between the ethnographic researcher and his/her research informants is riddled with complications. Working closely with someone leads to a sharing of trust and confidentiality, and can even foster ideas of loyalty and friendship. The researcher can lose his objectivity by becoming emotionally involved and may no longer notice manipulations and deceit. Briggs provides an honest account of the risks involved when relying on “gatekeepers” for access to research communities and insider knowledge. The possibility of betrayal and exploitation surrounds all social encounters but is perhaps acute when working with what in this case are members of a vulnerable population. The article provides an insightful account of the process and the pitfall of the very working relationships that are central to qualitative research.

Working on a much larger scale, the quantitative paper by Tutenges and Hesse pursues a familiar theme in their study of the association of different music styles with drug use. While there is a surfeit of anecdotal information, this paper takes a robust approach to building up the empirical evidence base. Using the Roskehilde music festival as an event for data gathering is a useful method that has already been applied in the UK, Australia and other countries.

Another field for drugs and alcohol research is the Night Time Economy (NTE) that is explored in the paper by Barton and Husk. The work on “preloading” demonstrates the importance of disaggregating observations about drinking behaviours within the NTE. It is clear that there are many different populations with diverse drinking patterns. The habit of drinking in private settings before going out at night is one of the unintended consequences of taxation strategies designed to reduce alcohol consumption. A finding that has implications for policy and practice interventions, and raises issues for further research.

For practitioners the legal classification of drugs frames the patterns of consumption, the response of the authorities and the behaviour of clients. Many are in regular contact with the authorities, and a rudimentary knowledge of drug laws and police processes comes with the job. Yet few understand the details of the process once a case is at court, and it is here that Sutton’s paper on the work of the expert witness is so insightful. He provides a rare insight into the use of evidence in court and particularly the role the expert. In a field dominated by “insiders”, the work of independent experts is invaluable.

Axel Klein