ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the later life impact of involvement in the Northern Scene. This includes consideration of the process of disengagement from the Scene, a subject notably lacking in accounts of subcultures. Set against use of the concept of commitment developed earlier it is necessary to explain how the nature of that commitment changed, leading individuals to move away from Scene and involvement in drug use and crime. These concerns should also be of interest to theorists who see the liberalisation of society as the cause of drug use by the creating of some kind of ‘moral vacuum’ (Rutter and Smith 1995). The final part of the chapter looks at drug use patterns after leaving the Scene and how outcomes appear to be affected by resource levels, positive influences such as family support, educational achievement and positive conception of self, and negative influences such as educational underachievement, an
abusive or neglected upbringing and experience of institutions such as approved school and Borstal.
