Rural youth culture: Keten in the Netherlands

A remarkable present-day phenomenon in rural areas in the Netherlands is that young people, mostly males, often meet in small groups in self-built or at least self-fitted out sheds or caravans (keten). At first glance, these keten seem to be substitutes for more official entertainment sites in the relatively sparsely populated parts of the Dutch countryside, and male rural adolescents, especially, seem to use them as places to drink a lot of alcohol. The drinking image of keten has recently been strongly emphasized and perhaps exaggerated by the popular media. This study intends to find out whether this first impression is true, by examining other activities performed in and identities attached to keten, primarily by using a quantitative approach. The paper shows that an important aspect of the keten culture is that keten provide their members with a place of their own, where they can do whatever they want without having to consider the rules of parents and other educators. The key differences between keten and other hang-outs are that keten are located in private space, relatively close to the parental gaze, and that they are almost exclusively accessible only to friends and acquaintances.