This article concerns alcohol use as it pertains to the construction of White masculinity through an analysis of students' accounts. Seventy-eight face-to-face interviews were conducted with volunteer female and male, African American, European American, heterosexual and homosexual students at a mid-sized university. Results suggest that the meaning of public drinking is to express a form of masculinity. In students' gendered descriptions of their own and peers' drinking behavior, alcohol use among White men was found to symbolize the embodiment of hegemonic masculinity. Masculinities were constructed via drinking stories, the body's ability to tolerate alcohol, and the relevance of drinking too little or not at all, which symbolized weakness, homosexuality, or femininity. Implications for social policy and future research are discussed.

This article examines the relationship between violence, masculinity, and alcohol use among heterosexual, economically disadvantaged, and primarily Black men officially identified as batterers. Violence occurred against intimates and strangers. Alcohol use coupled with violence against intimates and violence against others (e.g., strangers) appeared to be used for masculinity construction. The use of alcohol before and during assaultive behavior combined with the use of violence symbolized dominance and control. This occurred in situations where markers of masculinity were largely absent (e.g., steady employment) in instances of both intimate partner violence and stranger violence.

Journal of Drug Issues 0022-0426/08/02 373-400 __________ Robert L. Peralta, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Akron. Dr. Peralta's areas of interest and expertise include deviance, gender, social inequality, alcohol, and interpersonal violence. Alcohol use in intimate partner violence and in the construction of gender is the focus of his current research."Alcohol Allows You To NoT Be Yourself": TowArd A sTrucTured uNdersTANdiNg of Alcohol use ANd geNder differeNce AmoNg gAY, lesBiAN, ANd heTerosexuAl YouTh robert l. Peralta This paper explores how homosexual and heterosexual women and men exploit situational and behavioral aspects of alcohol consumption using alcohol-related excuses to justify divergent gender displays. Seventy-eight in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of youth are used to examine how alcohol-related excuses counteract the deviance associated with gender norm violation and ease the shame associated with inappropriate gender displays. It is in these contexts that the dynamic approach of structured action theory allows for an examination of the diverse ways in which men and women situationally construct gender. This investigation seeks to understand how situations and alcohol use contexts allow women and men to engage in and/or ignore inappropriate displays of gender. Also examined is how the "alcohol excuse" is experienced when either purposeful or accidental gender difference occurs. Conclusions illustrate the fluidity of gender, the contexts in which gender difference takes place, and the way in which excuses render gender categories unchanged.

We estimate the prevalence of nonmedical prescription drug (NMPD) use and test social learning theory as an explanation for NMPD use based upon data from a large pilot study. Data were collected from 465 college students at a Midwestern university in the USA using a self-administered questionnaire. The sample was predominantly white (88%), 43% were female and the mean age was 22. Most participants (80%) were not members of social fraternities or sororities. A majority of students did not report NMPD use: 39.4% of respondents reported lifetime NMPD use, 31% reported past-year use, and 14.4% reported past-month use. Multivariate regression results partially supported social learning theory as an explanation for lifetime NMPD use. Limitations and suggestions for future research are suggested.

Background: We conducted a study to assess the validity of a screening question commonly used to detect intimate partner violence (IPV) in primary care settings. We also analyzed prevalence and risk factors of IPV.Methods: We used an embedded domestic violence detection instrument in a general health questionnaire at one family medicine clinic. Questionnaire scales included a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), depression and alcohol use scales, and a personal safety question ("Do you feel safe at home?"). We assessed the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of the personal safety question in our sample using responses to the modified CTS and the personal safety question. Three hundred ninety-nine female patients over the age of 18 completed the survey.