Abstract
Drinking is viewed by young people as a predominantly social activity which provides an opportunity for entertainment and bonding with friends. Using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field and capital, this article explores young people's attitudes and beliefs around alcohol use, influences on behaviour, and the role of peers, with a view to informing the development of preventive interventions. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 28 young people aged 18–20 in the south west of England. We describe how friends were integral in drinking experiences, and drinking with friends was equated with fun and enjoyment. In this way, the desire for social and symbolic capital appeared to be a key motivator for adolescent drinking. Critically, however, wider cultural norms played the predominant role in shaping behaviour, via the internalisation of widely accepted practice and the subsequent externalisation of norms through the habitus. Applying Bourdieu's theory suggests that population‐level interventions that regulate alcohol consumption, and thus disrupt the field, are likely to facilitate behaviour change among young people by driving a response in habitus.
Highlights
Alcohol consumption rates among young adults in the UK are some of the highest in Europe (Hibell et al 2011)
The dialectic of the internalisation of externality and the externalisation of internality Wider British cultural norms around alcohol were characterised by a tolerance and acceptance from parents around young people’s drinking, the ubiquity of alcohol through society, and the integral nature of drinking in the social world
I1: Why do you think that most people drink? What do you think is the biggest reason for young people?
Summary
Alcohol consumption rates among young adults in the UK are some of the highest in Europe (Hibell et al 2011). Liberalised licensing laws and expansion of the night-time economy have helped to embed alcohol consumption into social culture for young adults Alongside such changes, alcohol-related hospital admissions have risen steadily over the past decade (Health and Social Care Information Centre 2015, Public Health England 2016) and over 70 per cent of accident and emergency attendances may be alcohol related at weekends (Parkinson et al 2015). Alcohol-related hospital admissions have risen steadily over the past decade (Health and Social Care Information Centre 2015, Public Health England 2016) and over 70 per cent of accident and emergency attendances may be alcohol related at weekends (Parkinson et al 2015) These trends, alongside evidence that adolescent drinking is associated with injury, violence, antisocial behaviour, risky sexual behaviour, adverse neurological consequences and adult alcohol dependence (Bava and Tapert 2010, Rehm et al 2012, Shield et al 2012, Viner and Taylor 2007), highlight the public health importance of understanding and preventing harmful alcohol use behaviour in young people
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