Discourses surrounding the use of alcohol in young people aged 16 and under

Abstract

Alcohol education programmes, based on mainstream psychological research, have been developed in an attempt to reduce the level of harm but have met with limited success. An alternative theoretical and methodological approach to the phenomenon of underage drinking was therefore proposed.

Foucauldian discourse analysis, a qualitative methodology grounded in critical theory, was therefore used to analyse four different sets of data. These datasets were i) young people’s talk around drinking (obtained through the use of focus groups), ii) educational leaflets targeted at young people, iii) a selection of educational sessions held in the classroom and iv) young people’s own talk around alcohol education (again, obtained through the use of focus groups).

Young people’s talk around drinking was found to comprise dominant discourse around pleasure and the enjoyment of risk, all underpinned by a fundamental need to be able to lose control. Both sets of educational data, on the other hand, comprised discourses around the essential "vulnerability" of young people, and the need for young people to maintain control through the adoption of a self-monitoring , self-regulating identity (the Foucauldian self). Young people’s talk around education appeared to show they had assimilated and accepted these latter discourses. However, the relative failure of educational programmes, coupled with the strength of the ‘pleasure’ discourses expressed by many young people in their talk around drinking, suggests this apparent success may be illusory.

Educational programmes, rather than engaging in a convert programme of control, therefore need to acknowledge to a far greater degree the fundamental role alcohol use, particularly ‘binge’ drinking, plays in young people’s lives. They need to find a way to connect with young people’s experiences if they are to have any success in preventing some of the genuine harm that may arise as a result of such drinking.

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