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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. AARHUS UNIVERSITY METHOD › Three 9th grade classes in a minor provincial school in Jutland (Denmark) › 5 month of fieldwork during 1 school year: 2005-2006 › 38 qualitative focus group interviews with pupils (24) and parents (14) TORSTEN KOLIND 2010

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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