Franca Beccaria

First drink: What does it mean? The alcohol socialization process in different drinking cultures

Aims: The aim of this qualitative research is to show how the alcohol socialization process – i.e. the ways children and young people get acquainted with alcohol – can generate very diverse experiences and meanings in different cultural contexts. Method: A total of 16 focus groups were conducted in Italy and Finland, divided by age (4 groups), gender and socio-cultural level. A total of 190 participants took part in the study. Findings: The findings support the hypothesis that the alcohol socialization process takes place in very different ways and assumes diverse meaning in the two countries involved in the study. In Italy the relationship with alcohol takes place as part of a gradual process and participants’ first memories of drinking alcohol are connected to positive values. In Finland, on the other hand, often the first experiences of drinking overlap with the first experiences of intoxication and alcohol images reflect an ambiguous relation with this substance, closely related to its intoxicating effects. Conclusions: Results show that the alcohol socialization process can take very different forms and meanings according to a specific drinking cultures. Thus, further comparative research should take into more consideration the implication of these substantial differences.

Young people and alcohol in Italy: An evolving relationship

In Italy, commonly held opinions and interpretations about the relationship between young people and alcohol are often expressed as generalizations and approximations. In order to further understanding of the relationship between young people and alcohol in contemporary Italy, we have gathered, compared and discussed all the available data, both in relation to their approach to and consumption of alcoholic drinks and also to risk behaviours. Analysing this data highlights the dangers of a simplistic interpretation of youth alcohol consumption and confirms its complexity and cultural specificity. The globalization processes of contemporary society have led to a homogenization of consumption styles, but despite this, typical elements of drinking cultures that traditionally characterize the specific social and cultural contexts seem to persist in Europe, even among young people. By comparing the data it can be argued that the level of risk among young Italians appears to be lower than in other countries. Nevertheless, from the same research data emerges that can be interpreted as an indicator that this is changing. This data highlights a dual risk for political decision makers and health promoters and practitioners: on the one hand, the risk of excessive and counterproductive alarmism and, on the other, the equally dangerous reappraisal and understating of the changes taking place.

Boundaries between Adult and Youth Drinking as Expressed by Young People in Italy and Finland

The study applies the concept of boundary work, as developed by Lamont and Molnár to analyze how young people perceive adult drinking. It is based on eight focus groups involving young people aged 17 to 24 years conducted in Torino (IT) and Helsinki (FI). The study contributes to understand why different orientations towards heavy drinking persist in the two geographical regions. In Italy young people draw explicit boundaries between theirs’ and adults’ drinking and between proper and deviant drinking, so that their boundary work results in producing social norms that are shared with adults, except for drunkenness, which is seen as normal for young people but not for adults. In Finland young people distance themselves from adults’ drinking situations, and describe them in terms of light versus heavy drinking, yet without making distinctions between proper and improper drinking in each situation, thereby articulating an absence of explicit norms against drunkenness.

Images of alcohol among Italian adolescents. Understanding their point of view

Aims: This study aims to plug the gap about how young people understand their direct and indirect experience with alcohol by investigating the prevalent images of alcohol among 15-year-olds. The study also aims to clarify the position of young Italians towards traditional Italian drinking culture. Methods: Twenty-two focus groups were organized in two Italian towns, Torino and Cosenza. The focus groups (FGs) used the Reception Analytical Group Interview (RAGI) method, wherein respondents are invited to discuss after seeing video clips used as a stimulus. The material thus collected was analysed through an approach that takes both the participants’ interpretative processes and their socio-cultural environment into consideration. Findings: Using ‘drinking situations’ as an analytical tool, it was found that young peoples images about drinking are still in line with tradition, as are the importance assigned to social drinking and the stigma attached to intoxication. Young people also appear to be aware of the negative consequences of drinking, even if the risks related to pharmaceutical use seem to be underestimated. Conclusions: Results cast doubt on the supposed convergence of drinking patterns within Europe and provide useful insights for the development of alcohol use and abuse policies and prevention.

Alcohol Consumption and Quality of Life Among Young Adults: A Comparison Among Three European Countries

The study aims to investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and quality of life (QoL) on a representative sample of adults aged 25–34 living in France, Italy, and the Netherlands (4,841 subjects). The data was collected in 2008 using telephone interviews and analyzed with cluster analysis using Wards method. Results show that the impact of alcohol consumption on QoL depends mainly on predominant consumption style and drinking culture that should be investigated further to identify protective factors.

From Criminals to Celebrities: Perceptions of "the Addict" in the Print Press from Four European Countries from Nineties to Today

The article reviews portrayals of “the addict” in press items from Italy, Finland, Poland, and The Netherlands. The dataset consists of 1,327 items from four national newspapers published in 1991, 1998, 2011. The portrayals varied according to country, period, and type of addiction problem. Results can be read as four cases where different conceptualizations (“the sinner,” “the sick,” “the social problem,” “the criminal,” and “the famous”) assume diverse importance. These conceptual frames-of-reference are clearly neither unambiguous nor fixed. They are constantly modified and part of different trends.

Stakeholders' role in contemporary "substitute drug" prescribing policies in Italy.

This article, part of a comparative research project (WP2) funded by FP7 ALICE RAP, is based upon a review of literature and documents and 18 individual interviews with Italian national stakeholders (SHs) conducted in 2012. The goal was to identify the main shifts in opioid “substitution drug” treatment policies and understand the role played by different SHs during the last 30 years. The study confirms that opioid “substitution drug” treatment is a particularly suitable theme for improving knowledge in the field of SH analysis, even if results show that changes in policies are mainly due to external factors rather than to the action of SHs.

Gender differences in heroin addiction and treatment: results from the VEdeTTE cohort

ABSTRACT Background: Gender differences strongly affect heroin addiction, from risk factors to patterns of consumption, access to treatments, and outcomes. Objectives: To investigate gender differences in the VEdeTTE cohort of heroin addicts. Methods: VEdeTTE is a cohort of 10,454 heroin users enrolled between 1998 and 2001 in 115 public drug treatment centres in Italy. Clinical and personal information were collected at intake through a structured interview. Treatments were recorded using a standardized form. Gender differences were explored with regard to characteristics at intake, treatments, and retention in methadone maintenance and therapeutic community. Cox Proportional models were carried out to identify risk factors for treatment abandon. Results: Compared with men, at their first access to treatment women with drug addiction were younger, more frequently married, legally separated, divorced or widow, unemployed though better educated, HIV+; more frequently they lived with their partner and sons. They reported a higher use of sedatives, but a lower use of alcohol; more frequently they had psychiatric comorbidity, including depression, self-injuries, and suicide attempts. Psychotherapy was more frequently prescribed to women, pharmacological treatments to men. Methadone maintenance was less frequently abandoned by women. Drug abuse severity factors predicted abandon of methadone among women. High methadone doses and the combination with psychotherapy improved treatment retention in both genders. Low education level and severity factors among women and young age among men predicted abandon of therapeutic community. Conclusions: Gender differences in the VEdeTTE cohort suggest the need of a gender sensitive approach to improve treatment outcomes among heroin addicts.

The more you know, the better you drink: The new drinking culture in Italian wine production areas

Abstract Introduction: The paper complements an epidemiological analysis of secondary data that compared levels of consumption, alcohol-related mortality and morbidity in territories in Piedmont (N-W Italy), characterized by a different involvement with wine culture, and which showed lower alcohol-related risks in areas of production. Aims: The main aim is to shed light on these epidemiological results through qualitative methods, focusing on meanings attributed to drinking and on mechanisms of regulation that could explain why in wine-producing areas alcohol-related risks appear to be lower. Methods: Eighty-one in-depth individual interviews have been conducted. The sample consisted of males and females, from three cohorts (aged 18–25; 45–52; 70–77 years) and covering two areas (with higher versus lower vineyard acreage). Results: In areas characterized by wine production the traditional alcohol socialization process within the family is more persistent. In these areas, the traditional drinking culture has been not only valued, but also renewed, by emphasising the importance of proper drinking and the knowledge related to it. Conclusions: The alcohol socialisation process and the emphasis on wine as a cultural product seem to be the most relevant protective factors, contributing to the lower alcohol consumption and counteracting the widespread risk of alcohol consumption patterns.

Gender, alcohol and intimate partner violence: Qualitative comparative study

Aims: The study compares young adults’ cultural understandings of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its connections with alcohol use and gender roles. Data and analyses: Comparative focus group interview data were collected in seven countries (Argentina, Finland, Italy, Nigeria, Uganda, Uruguay, Sri Lanka). Similar lists of codes and coding procedures were used in analyzing the data in all countries. Findings: According to the dominant image of IPV, the perpetrator is a man and the victim is a woman. Many discussions dealt with the gender-specific legitimation of IPV, and the groups from different countries expressed somewhat different views on the gender differences, the moral responsibility of both parties and the mitigating factors of violent behaviour in these discussions. Views on alcohol as a contributing factor for IPV were more similar in all cultures. According to most of the groups, intoxication offers a culturally acceptable excuse to escape responsibility, alcohols pharmacological effects make violent behaviour more likely, heavy drinking can affect the relationship in a negative way, and the victims drinking increases the risk of violence. Alcohol was said to have a somewhat different role in situational and in continuous IPV. Conclusions: Results give support to reduction of heavy use of alcohol as an available and feasible method of prevention of IPV. However, prevention of IPV requires paying attention to its other reasons as well, especially the structural gender inequality.