Le relazioni alcoliche. Giovani e culture del bere

Abstract

Drinking and alcohol abuse by young people are emerging phenomena that increasingly characterize the sometimes dramatic chronicles of our daily lives. While most scientific studies on alcohol drinking focus mainly on the biological and psychological aspects related to the phenomenon, this book seeks to enrich our knowledge of it by describing and analyzing certain social and cultural aspects that to the drinking phenomenon remain inextricably interconnected. Through four years of ethnographic research, the cultural and social world of young people is seen through the eyes of the protagonists. On the basis of the data collected, a typology of drinkers was constructed, distinguishing specific characteristics that make it possible to identify different cultures and ways of drinking. Alcohol cultures are, therefore, described and analyzed with particular attention to the social dynamics, normative and value horizon of reference, and the interactional and ritual aspects that link “youth enjoyment” with drinking alcohol in groups. While it is not among the objectives of this book to provide a reflection on the social policies involved in intervening on the phenomenon of youth drinking, the hope is that the information provided by this work may also be useful in the construction of effective intervention and prevention programs. Ours is ultimately intended to be an attempt to mediate between two worlds, that of youth and that of adults, which are in danger of becoming increasingly estranged from each other. The obstacle to operating an adequate intervention on drinking phenomena (and, in particular, youth drinking), in fact, is often represented by the emergence of prejudices that lead to suspend such phenomena within the sphere of a-normality and social dangerousness.