Bars, drugs and football thugs

Alcohol, cocaine use and violence in the night time economy among English football firms

Bibliographic Data

ID12900281
AuthorsTammy C Ayres (0000-0002-2590-9558, University of Leicester, corresponding author), James Treadwell (0000-0001-9848-2869, University of Leicester)
Year2011
Volume12
Issue1
Pages83-100
Publication date2011-11-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology & Criminal Justice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-8958 • E-ISSN: 1748-8966
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1748895811422949
OpenAlexW2111963760
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited47

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork, the aim of which was to explore the functionality of cocaine (used in conjunction with alcohol and on its own) in the subcultural milieu of the English football firm. The study was originally concerned with the use of violence associated with cocaine use among football fans on match days but, like much ethnography, the research evolved beyond its original remit to include the extension of football firm violence within the night time economy (NTE). The study is unique in giving a voice to this group of individuals and permitting them to be active interpreters of their own world. It included 20 interviews with members of football firms who habitually took part in violent exchanges and found that concurrent use of cocaine and alcohol fulfilled three main functions: the facilitation of extreme violence; the acquisition of ‘time out’; and the construction of a (hyper-)masculine identity. These functions were not confined to the subcultural context of the football firm, but had also become an integral component of their mainstream leisure pursuits within the NTE. The findings from this explorative study also contribute answers to the under researched question of whether those ‘who are violent in the NTE are also violent in other contexts’ (Finney, 2004: 5)

Context (archaeology · Criminology · Ethnography · Football · Mainstream · Political science · Sociology · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Gender Studies · History · Law · Night-time city culture · Psychology · Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub