‘Go hard or go home’: a social practice theory approach to young people’s ‘risky’ alcohol consumption practices

Abstract

Developing a deep and contextualised understanding of risk is important for public health responses to young people's alcohol consumption, which is frequently positioned as an outcome of risky behaviour. This paper expands conceptualisations of risk to encompass its wider social and cultural context through a social practice exploration of young people's controlled and managed intoxicated alcohol consumption practice. We report data from a fourteen-month qualitative study of the alcohol consumption practices of 23 young people in England, drawing on group interviews and social media interactions. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of risk-taking, demonstrating that risk is an important aspect of the ongoing participation and performance in alcohol consumption practice and that health information and advice can be and was frequently incorporated into drinking practice without contributing to fundamental change. This raises new questions about the effectiveness of health interventions that focus on the individual, discussed in the final section of the paper.

Young men’s perceptions about the risks associated with sports betting: a critical qualitative inquiry

“…Lessons from public health research for alcohol consumption highlight that public health strategies that target alcohol consumption are therefore unlikely to effectively prevent risk behaviour. [ 18 ]. Similarly for young men and sports betting, strategies to address young men’s risk for harm should be reflective of the many domains that may contribute to harm, moving beyond a sole focus on individual responsibility [ 48 ].…”

“…Rhodes explains that risk perceptions are significantly shaped by social interactions and norms, and argues that a more comprehensive understanding of risk that moves beyond the influence of individual processes, requires capturing the way in which risk is socially organised. This is important for improving the effectiveness of strategies to address the harms associated with unhealthy products, in which they better recognise the role of social processes in shaping risk perceptions and behaviour [ 18 ]. For example, researchers in alcohol harm prevention argue that exploring risk through social processes is important given that alcohol consumption is largely a social activity and is bound by socially shared meanings such as social connection [ 19 , 20 ].…”

“…For example, researchers in alcohol harm prevention argue that exploring risk through social processes is important given that alcohol consumption is largely a social activity and is bound by socially shared meanings such as social connection [ 19 , 20 ]. Furthermore, the researchers argued for the same approach to be extended to other unhealthy products that are influenced by social processes such as gambling [ 18 ]. Social risk theorists argue that examining the social processes that shape risk beliefs may help us to understand why people engage in activities that may be potentially risky for their health [ 17 ].…”

Exploring health behaviours: understanding drinking practice using the lens of practice theory

“…The data also serve to deepen the understandings of young people's intoxicated drinking (see Fry 2011, Niland et al 2013 and demonstrate how achieving a successful/acceptable performance of the PNO is related to practice competences of achieving and maintaining an acceptable level of intoxication. That is not to say the young people do not get drunk when participating in any other social practice, rather, that other social practices do not necessarily require drunkenness for competent and meaningful engagement (see Ally et al 2016, Hennell et al 2019a). Furthermore, the data demonstrate that there is no single acceptable way of performing the practice; rather performativity relates to localised practice which have been shown in this study to be both classed and gendered.…”

Obese societies: Reconceptualising the challenge for public health

“…Social theories of practice, including Bourdieu's notion of habitus and Giddens’ structuration theory, have been pressed into service in order to illuminate a wide range of health‐related topics. These include physical education (Fitzpatrick, 2011); lifestyle (Dumas et al, 2014); physical activity and exercise (McLaren et al, 2012); running (Wiltshire et al, 2018); football (Bunn et al, 2016); cycling and fell running (Nettleton & Green, 2014) and walking (Hanson et al, 2016)]; as well as food and eating (Chan et al, 2010; de Morais Sato et al, 2018; Delormier et al, 2009; Lindsay, 2010); smoking (Blue et al, 2016); vaping (Keane et al, 2017); alcohol consumption (Hennell et al, 2019; Meier et al, 2018; Supski et al, 2016); the use of self‐monitoring devices (Williams et al, 2018); weight management (Jauho et al, 2016); gambling (Gordon & Reith, 2019); and cross‐cutting issues related to embodiment, class and gender (Robinovich et al, 2018; Warin et al, 2008).…”