Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Bartholins Alle 10, 3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Artillerivej 90, 2, 2300 København S, Denmark.
Int J Drug Policy. 2020 Jul;81:102655. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.102655. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
In this paper, we explore how Danish youth legitimize and negotiate abstaining from drinking alcohol. While most literature on abstinence focuses either on abstainers or non-drinkers, we focus on young peoples' reasons for abstaining either for shorter or longer periods of time.
The article draws on narrative data from in-depth qualitative interviews with 140 young Danes between 18 and 25 years of age, all of whom had used alcohol in the past three months before the interview. In the analyses we identify different ways in which young Danes explain, justify and legitimize shorter or longer periods of abstinence, while still participating in friendship groups where consuming alcohol is a central part of being together.
We employ two concepts that identify what we mean when talking about abstaining from drinking alcohol. The first is 'situational abstinence' which covers abstaining from drinking alcohol in certain situations and for particular reasons while nevertheless consuming in other situations. The second concept, 'long term abstinence', covers taking a break from drinking for longer periods of time. We thus focus on young people, who participate in the Danish youth drinking cultures, but choose to abstain from drinking in certain situations and for a certain period of time. One important finding to emerge from our analysis is that while other studies show some of the same reasons for not drinking, our study shows that timing, negotiation and legitimization also play important roles. Furthermore, these roles are modified by gender.
Friendship and peer groups are central relationships for young people and are important arenas for feelings of comfort, a sense of belonging and a source of identity. If policy and/or prevention initiatives focus solely on abstaining as an individual choice or an individual concern, as for example in the 'just say no' campaigns, then these initiatives fail to emphasize important aspects of young people's lives.
本文探讨了丹麦青年如何使戒酒合理化并进行协商。虽然大多数关于戒酒的文献要么关注戒酒者，要么关注非饮酒者，但我们关注的是年轻人出于短期或长期原因戒酒的原因。
本文借鉴了对 140 名 18 至 25 岁的丹麦年轻人进行的深入定性访谈的叙事数据，所有受访者在接受访谈前的三个月内都使用过酒精。在分析中，我们确定了年轻的丹麦人解释、证明和使短期或长期戒酒合理化的不同方式，同时仍然参与到饮酒是聚会核心的友谊群体中。
我们使用了两个概念来确定我们在谈论戒酒时的意思。第一个是“情境性戒酒”，它涵盖了在某些情况下出于某些原因戒酒，而在其他情况下仍会饮酒。第二个概念是“长期戒酒”，它涵盖了长时间戒酒。因此，我们关注的是那些参与丹麦青年饮酒文化但选择在某些情况下和一定时期内戒酒的年轻人。我们的分析得出的一个重要发现是，尽管其他研究显示了一些相同的不饮酒原因，但我们的研究表明，时机、协商和合法化也起着重要作用。此外，这些角色还会受到性别的影响。
友谊和同伴群体是年轻人的核心关系，是舒适感、归属感和身份认同感的重要领域。如果政策和/或预防举措仅仅将戒酒作为个人选择或个人关注的重点，例如在“拒绝”运动中，那么这些举措就无法强调年轻人生活的重要方面。
