Willm Mistral

Inhabiting the contradictions: Hypersexual femininity and the culture of intoxication among young women in the UK

This paper contributes to debates on post-feminism and the constitution of contemporary femininity via an exploration of young women’s alcohol consumption and their involvement in normative drinking cultures. We view femininity as a profoundly contradictory and dilemmatic space which appears almost impossible for girls or young women to inhabit. The juxtaposition of hyper-sexual femininity and the culture of intoxication produces a particularly difficult set of dilemmas for young women. They are exhorted to be sassy and independent – but not feminist; to be ‘up for it’ and to drink and get drunk alongside young men – but not to ‘drink like men’. They are also called on to look and act as agentically sexy within a pornified night-time economy, but to distance themselves from the troubling figure of the ‘drunken slut’. Referring to recent research on young women’s alcohol consumption and our own study on young adults’ involvement in the culture of intoxication in the UK, we consider the ways in which young women manage to inhabit this terrain, and the implications for contemporary feminism and safer drinking initiatives.

Social marketing, individual responsibility and the “culture of intoxication”

Purpose – Social marketing initiatives designed to address the UKs culture of unhealthy levels of drinking among young adults have achieved inconclusive results to date. The paper aims to investigate the gap between young peoples perceptions of alcohol consumption and those of government agencies who seek to influence their behaviour set within a contextualist framework.Design/methodology/approach – The authors present empirical evidence from a major study that suggests that the emphasis of recent campaigns on individual responsibility may be unlikely to resonate with young drinkers. The research included a meaning‐based and visual rhetoric analysis of 261 ads shown on TV, in magazines, on billboards and on the internet between 2005 and 2006. This was followed by 16 informal group discussions with 89 young adults in three locations.Findings – The research identified the importance of the social context of young peoples drinking. The research reveals how a moral position has been culturally constructed ...

The discursive constitution of the UK alcohol problem in Safe, Sensible, Social: a discussion of policy implications

In this article, we critically reflect on the constitution of the UKs alcohol problem in the governments ‘Safe, Social, Sensible’ policy document, referring to findings from a 3-year ESRC funded study on young people, alcohol and identity. We suggest that discursive themes running throughout ‘Safe, Sensible, Social’ include ‘shared responsibility’ for implementing a ‘cultural change’, ‘youth and binge drinking’ and the need to promote ‘sensible’ levels of alcohol consumption to individual drinkers. We argue that, in constituting the problem around these themes, the policy document risks diluting responsibility and obscuring the role of government, media and alcohol manufacturers. In addition, the way young drinkers are constituted carries a risk of isolating this group as both cause and effect of the alcohol problem, placing an unrealistic burden of responsibility on local communities and agencies and exacerbating the gap between policy assumptions and the lived reality of young drinkers within their cultural context. We conclude that alcohol policy requires a more substantive, clearly specified and evidence-based approach which acknowledges the complexities of drinking contexts and drinker motivations in the allocation of responsibility and formulation of policy. In particular, policy needs to address the role of legislation and licensing laws, and the branding and marketing activities of the drinks industry in the structure of UK alcohol consumption.

The allure of belonging: young people's drinking practices and collective identification

Drinking to intoxication now forms an increasingly normalised part of most young people’s social lives. Research on young people’s alcohol consumption indicates a pattern of increased sessional heavy drinking in the UK from the early 1990s, although there is some recent evidence that this trend is starting to level off (Measham, 2008). We have explored this issue in a recent study that examined the role of drinking in young adults’ social lives in relation to the diverse ways in which alcohol is now marketed and advertised to young people. In this chapter, we focus on the significance of belonging to a social friendship group for young people’s drinking cultures. Young people’s alcohol consumption revolves around a collective culture of intoxication that is based firmly in informal mixed and single-sex friendship groups (Griffin et al., 2009). Drinking, as many alcohol researchers have pointed out, is a practice through which we are located (and locate ourselves) in terms of gender, class, age, religion, ethnicity and national identity (Wilson, 2005).

Young adults and ‘binge’ drinking: A Bakhtinian analysis

Abstract In this paper, we use Bakhtins theory of carnival in a literary analysis of young peoples accounts of the role of alcohol in their social lives. Bakhtinian themes in the focus-group transcripts included the dialogic character of drinking stories, the focus on parodic grotesquery, ribald and satiric laughter, and the temporary subversion and reversal of social norms and roles in a world turned ‘inside out’. We suggest that our analysis of the UKs drinking ‘culture’ hints at a previously untheorised complexity and force, and points to a deep contradiction between young peoples lived experience of alcohol and government policy discourses based on appeals to individual moral responsibility. We conclude that the carnivalesque resonance of drinking is such that the UKs alcohol problem will continue to worsen until the availability and cultural presence of alcohol is subject to stricter controls.

CMHTs: The professionals' choice?

This study investigated the opinions of professionals working in Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) about the function of CMHTs, and of their own role within them. All professional members (157) of all CMHTs (17) within one Trust were surveyed, using a 22-question questionnaire. Eightyfour professionals replied (53.5%). The professional groups were consultants, other medical Doctors, psychologists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and family therapists. Results strongly supported the prediction that different professional groups held radically different views about the role and importance of CMHTs. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to: the variety of problems faced by the different professions working in CMHTs; the effect of particular professional socialisation; the appropriate professional mix; issues surrounding leadership; and the relationship between professional autonomy and co-operative work-behaviour.

Substance-misusing Patients in Primary Care: incidence, services provided and problems. A survey of general practitioners in Wiltshire

This research aimed to discover the monthly incidence of patients misusing illicit drugs or alcohol seen by general practitioners; services provided; difficulties encountered; and general practitioner willingness. The total population of general practitioners (n = 210) in the Health Commission for Wiltshire was sent a postal questionnaire: 49% responded (n = 103), and 10% of respondents were interviewed. The number of alcohol-misusing patients seen per month was much higher than illicit drug-misusing patients: 46% of respondents saw fewer than one patient for prescribed opiates, and 71% saw fewer than one solvent misuser, per month; in contrast, only 7% of respondents saw fewer than one alcohol-misusing patient per month. Ninety-two per cent of general practitioners provided general medical services for alcohol misusers, and 86% for illicit drug misusers. Fifty-four per cent of respondents provided substitute medication for illicit drugs, while 42% provided detoxification medication for illicit drugs. Sixty-five per cent provided medication for alcohol detoxification. Difficulties encountered included missed appointments, time-wasting, aggressive behaviour, communication difficulties and upset to other patients. Twelve per cent of general practitioners were willing to provide more services for illicit drug users, compared with 27% for alcohol users. The greater unwillingness to work with illicit drug users appeared disproportionate to the number previously encountered. Interventions to improve the situation for general practitioners and substance-misusing patients are discussed.

Young Peoples’ Binge Drinking Constituted as a Deficit of Individual Self-control in UK Government Alcohol Policy

In this chapter, we reflect on the discourses of deficit theme in the context of our study of young people and alcohol in the UK, and in light of the way the UK’s alcohol problem is constituted in public policy discourse. We chose one policy document in particular because it came directly from the UK Government cabinet office and focused prominently on young people. This was called Safe, Sensible, Social: The Next Steps in the National Alcohol Strategy (Department of Health 2007). The document was produced in a climate of moral panic over ‘binge drinking’ (Measham 1996), which it defines (p. 3) as ‘drinking that leads to drunkenness’ and its damaging economic, social and health implications. It sets out the rationale for policy at national and local level. The stated overall aim of policy as expressed in the document (p. 1) is to promote ‘a sensible drinking culture’. We explore further the implications of the differing possible definitions of ‘binge’ and ‘sensible’ drinking below.

Partnership working in community alcohol prevention programmes

The National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England places much emphasis on creating partnerships at both national and local levels between government, the drinks industry, health services, police, individuals and communities to tackle alcohol misuse and associated harm and disorder. This article describes the characteristic structures and dynamics of community partnerships to reduce alcohol-related harm at three sites in the UK, all influenced by an approach championed by Holder in the USA. It illustrates both the attributes of a good partner and the importance of the relationship between partners, as well as the benefits and challenges inherent in local partnerships’ working.

Are practice nurses an underused resource for managing patients having problems with illicit drugs? A survey of one health authority area in England

The involvement of primary health care teams (PHCTs) with people using illicit drugs is seen as vitally important. General practitioners (GPs) have not expressed enthusiasm for this work, but the level of involvement, or willingness, of practice nurses (PNs) is not well documented. The present report derives from a postal survey of the total population of GPs (response rate 66%) and PNs (response rate 61%) in the Bath District Health Authority, England, and from interviews with a 10% sample of respondents. Statistically significant differences were found between GPs and PNs. Forty-eight percent GPs but only 9% PNs provided services for illicit drug users; 14% GPs and only 4% PNs had relevant training. A greater percentage of PNs (31%) than GPs (22%) believed PHCTs were appropriate for providing drug services, and should screen for illicit drug use (55% PNs and 45% GPs). Training would increase willingness of 44% PNs and 24% GPs; and increase effectiveness with 72% PNs and 63% GPs. Two other differences we...