Reykjavik AARHUS UNIVERSITY YOUTH DRINKING AND SOCIAL CLASS TORSTEN KOLIND: CENTRE FOR ALCOHOL AND DRUG RESEARCH

AARHUS UNIVERSITY FOCUS: AN UNDERSTANDING OF DANISH YOUTH’S DIFFERENT DRINKING PRACTISES › Relating drinking and partying to other areas of the lives of the young › Analytical focus on cultural capital and counter-culture TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY THE DRINKING CULTURE OF DANISH YOUTH IS SPECIAL › They start early, often before or during 9th grade › They drink a lot › Intoxication is often the explicit aim TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CURRENT RESEARCH HAVE NEGLECTED A FOCUS ON SOCIAL CLASS › Only little focus on structural constraints. Instead focus on individual risk and intoxication strategies › ‘New culture of intoxication’ characterised by ‘bounded consumption’ – is only a valid characteristic of some young TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SOCIAL CLASS › Cultural capital (Bourdieu): accumulation of education and knowledge, tastes, preferences, ’sense’. But also the practice of creating distinct social identities › Anthropological perspective: inductively outline and compare the characteristics of different groups cultural capital TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY METHOD › Three 9th grade classes in a minor provincial school in Jutland (Denmark) › 5 month of fieldwork during 1 school year: › 38 qualitative focus group interviews with pupils (24) and parents (14) TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY ANALYSIS – THREE AREAS OF COMPARISON Mainstream youngsters and mainstream breakers (analytical groups) A) Rule setting B) School C) Drinking and partying TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY A: RULES FOCUS IS ON THE COMMUNICATION OF RULES Mainstream – concerted communication › Reflect extensively on rules: seeing rules from own, parents’ and societal perspective › Meta-communicate: rules are open- ended guidelines, young are co- producers, they interpret unspoken elements of rules Mainstream breakers - the accomplishment of natural growth › Operating with directives rather than persuading children with reasoning › Defined, non-negotiable › Not an area for minute reflection › CASE : parent-agreement TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY B: SCHOOL & TIME HAVING ENOUGH OR TO LITTLE CULTURAL CAPITAL Mainstream › School important for further education and for doing well in life › School important for nurturing social relations › Competent in the school culture; had enough cultural capital: school culture reflect mainstream values Time › responsible for planning and filling up time with meaningful activity and creating self-identity Mainstream breakers › School not important in life and for the future › Not central in keeping up social relations › Incompetent in school culture; lacked cultural capital Time › Fatalistic. Not planning. Time not to same extend something to be invested in developing self-identity TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY C: DRINKING & PARTYING AND RISK PATTERNS CONTINUE ALONG THE LINES OUTLINED ABOVE Mainstream › Construct and perceive themselves as normal: › Those who drink too little › Those who drink too much/the wrong way › Risk perception: › Develop own harm reducing practices › Bounded consumption / controlled loss of control / › Part of a self-reflexive project Mainstream breakers › Create counter culture by rejecting mainstream values › Fighting › Defending oneself › Extreme drinking › Risk perception: › Unbounded risk taking › Risk do not contribute to the narrative of the self but to counter culture TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CONCLUSION 1) PARTYING AND DRINKING MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN RELATION TO A BROADER CONTEXT OF THE ADOLESCENCE’S LIFE Drinking & Partying School rules TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CONCLUSION 2) CULTURAL CAPITAL + Cultural capital (mainstream youth) › Controlled loss of control › Self-reflection › Planning › Feeling normal › Recognize societal health ideals › Master school culture › Co-produce family rules - Cultural capital (mainstream breakers) › Unbounded consumption › Counter culture › Fatalistic, ad hoc / repetition › Feeling different › Societal health ideals irrelevant › Slight mastering of school culture › Rules are non-negotiable TORSTEN KOLIND 2010