Book Review: Perrone, D. The High Life: Club Kids, Harm, and Drug Policy New York, NY: Criminal Justice Press, 2009. xiv, 247 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-1-881798-46-0

• Date: 01 December 2010
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016810366119
• Published date: 01 December 2010
• Subject Matter: Articles

assumptions or conceptual commitments, the development of future frameworks for research and

policies seem to be put on hold.

The book may be of greater benefit if also geared toward practitioners. For greater success in the

battle of reintegration and alleviating recidivism, ex-cons and criminal justice practitioners should

develop relationships to understand what is needed for success. The book’s approach might be used

to guide practitioners on the basis of a sympathetic understanding of the burdens one faces even

before hitting the streets.

Looking past any limitations, this book is a must have for anyone interested in topics

concerning correctional matters. The authors must be acknowledged for their contribution of

offering the audience a firsthand look into the issues facing those returning to society. These

concerns may be overlooked but should be listed as a priority when developing policies geared

toward alleviating the revolving door of the criminal justice system. By offering ex-cons sound

advice to steer their lives in the right direction, they may build skills needed to exit criminal

lifestyles and reduce recidivism.

Perrone, D.

The High Life: Club Kids, Harm, and Drug Policy New York, NY: Criminal Justice Press,

2009. xiv, 247 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-1-881798-46-0

Reviewed by: Ryan B. Baker, Indiana University, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016810366119

Recent attempts to understand and control illicit drug use have begun to shift focus, adopting

ideologies weighted in models calling upon prevention, education, and treatment. Much of this shift

can be traced back to scholarly case studies, specifically ethnographies using qualitative research,

which embarks upon a specific subset of drug users. The High Life adds to the theme described above

and provides an excellent glimpse at one particular subset of drug users, that is, the club drug culture

and the participating club kids.

Drug use ethnographies are rare commodities in academia. This predicament has less to do with

the raw availability of data and more to do with the researcher navigating boundaries and crafting

social relationships between the subsequent drug using populations. Perrone begins her book by

addressing these very real tribulations, referencing the possible adverse events inherent to the inves-

tigation of ‘‘hidden’’ and ‘‘deviant’’ populations. Perrone personally discloses several of these

encounters including being branded as a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant, managing

intoxicated interviewees, collecting field notes, and issues of gender (in regard to the role of a female

researcher embedded within a sexualized subculture).

Perrone executes a mixed methodology, although traditional, in researching small sets of drug

users. Using data collected via snowball and convenience sampling, Perrone was successful in secur-

ing formal interviews with 18 club drug users from 45 participant observations/venues over a

15-month period. Although some readers may question the validity of such a limited sample, it

should be noted that this book offers insight into a hidden population that has, until now, been absent

among drug research. Specifically, an older drug-using demographic (mean age of 27), all of which

are middle to upper class who exhibit stable indicators of both social and economic capital.

Guided by research questions that seek out the club drug users’ (a) decision to use, (b) setting to

use, and (c) negative consequences of use, Perrone provides a practical framework intended to ques-

tion the role of the criminal justice system and public health authorities in addressing the advance-

ment of drug-use prevention theories. Departing from Zinberg’s classic work (Drug, Set, and

Setting: The Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use, 1984, New Haven: Yale University Press) detailing

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