Construction of social exclusion in the case of harmful alcohol use

Abstract

Social harm from drinking has an interactional character: there is a behaviour defined as problematic, but there is also someone upon whom the behaviour affects. The aim of this study is to analyse social interaction between the drinker and others with whom he or she is performing such social roles as parent, partner, son, daughter, employee, student, friend or citizen, and identify the main factors influencing the process of social exclusion. This paper is based on literature review and 17 qualitative interviews with alcoholics and their family members. The interviews were conducted during May-June of 2013 in Lithuania. The research is a part of the project Social Exclusion and Social Participation in Transitional Lithuania (VP1-3.1-SMM-07-K). Research showed that in the stage when a drinker loses control of their drinking and for responsible performance of their main social roles, external formal and informal controls begin to substitute for his/her self-control. The control intensity could vary from asking not to drink or drink less to exclusion (divorce, children placed in formal care, dismissal from job). The level of hitting bottom (the point when drinker decides to stop drinking and live a responsible life) could be associated with the level of social exclusion, where a low bottom is characterized as deep social exclusion when social and economic capital are lost. Hitting bottom is the starting point when the drinker changes direction from social exclusion to social inclusion.