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Gendered forms of responsibility and control in teenagers' views of alcohol

Holdsworth

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Abstract

There has been a shift in the most recent UK Government's Alcohol Strategy (2012) from personal responsibility towards a model of shared responsibility for young people's drinking. On closer examination of the strategy, however, it appears that rather than exonerating young people from blame, governance is merely extended to include wider partners. Using findings from nine focus groups with young people in Liverpool, UK, we explore who they believe are responsible for their drinking behaviours and how they learn to become ‘good drinkers’. Our findings show that while teenagers were aware of dominant alcohol-related messages and maintained a moral position as responsible citizens; they also negotiated and resisted norms about teenage drinking. Although both boys and girls agreed that parents were the primary responsible authority for regulating their drinking, there was gendered disagreement about personal responsibility. The girls described how they were ultimately responsible for any adverse consequences if they drank too much whilst the boys considered a wide range of partners who would be implicated. However, unlike the girls, the boys described a willingness to either abstain or moderate their alcohol intake in order to remain in control and avoid any alcohol-related trouble or harm.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 24, 2014
Online Publication Date Jan 2, 2015
Publication Date Jul 3, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Youth Studies
Print ISSN 1367-6261
Publisher Routledge
Pages 794 - 808
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.992325
Keywords alcohol, gender, young people, responsibility, control
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.992325

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