Trends in alcohol consumption in Australia suggest that university and college students engage in heavy drinking. However, while media and policy representations of young drinkers are frequently negative, the academic literature suggests that young people are not unaware or unconcerned about the harms linked to alcohol use. In this study, we conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with six university students aged 18–21 years. We examined the concerns they raised about alcohol use, including their views on two harm-minimization campaigns that were distributed in Australia at the time of the study. Our data suggest that, although there are some significant contradictions in attitudes and views about what constitutes “harm” in relation to alcohol use, university students nonetheless do reflect on the risks associated with intoxication. Furthermore, we found that the messages embedded in the campaigns resonate with this cohort's concerns and fears about drinking, as well as their values and future ambitions.
Australia Institute for Health and Welfare. (2008). 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: First results. Drug statistics series no. 20. Cat. no. PHE 98. Canberra: Author. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442468084
3.
BorlagdanJ.FreemanT.DuvnjakA.LunnayB.BywoodP., & RocheA. (2010). From ideal to reality. Cultural contradictions and young people's drinking. Manuka, AU: DrinkWise Australia Ltd.
4.
BoydC.McCabeS., & MoralesM. (2005). College students' alcohol use: A critical review. Annual Review of Nursing Research, 23(1), 179–211.
5.
BrainK.ParkerH., & CarnwathT. (2000). Drinking with design: Young drinkers as psychoactive consumers. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 7(1), 5–20.
6.
BurchellG. (1996). Liberal government and techniques of the self. In BarryA.OsbourneT., & RoseN. (Eds.), Foucault and political reason (pp. 19–36). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
7.
ChikritzhsT.CatalanoP.StockwellT.DonathS.NgoH.YoungD. (2003). Australian Alcohol Indicators, 1990–2001: Patterns of alcohol use and related harms for Australian states and territories. Perth, AU: National Drug Research Institute.
8.
ColbyS.ColbyJ., & RaymondG. (2009). College versus the real world: Student perceptions and implications for understanding heavy drinking among college students. Addictive Behaviour, 34(1), 17–27.
9.
Commissioner for Children and Young People. (2011). Speaking out about reducing alcohol-related harm on children and young people. Report by the Government of Western Australia. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from http://www.ccyp.wa.gov.au/content/Reducing-alcohol_related-harm-.aspx
10.
CoxW.SchippersG.KlingerE.SkutleA.StuchlikovaI.ManF. (2002). Motivational structure and alcohol use of university students across four nations. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(3), 280–285.
11.
DaveyJ.DaveyT., & ObstP. (2002). Alcohol and drug use in a sample of Australian university students. Youth Studies Australia, 21(3), 25–32.
12.
DeanM. (1994). “A social structure of many souls”: Moral regulation, government, and self-formation. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 19(2), 145–168.
13.
De CrespignyC.VincentN., & AskA. (1999). Young women's social drinking in context—pub style: A study of decision making and social drinking of young women in urban South Australia. Contemporary Drug Problems, 26(3), 439–456.
14.
Department of Health and Ageing. (2008). Don't turn a night out into a nightmare campaign. Canberra: Author. Retrieved May 27, 2010, from http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au
15.
EzzyD. (2002). Qualitative analysis: Practice and innovation. Crows Nest, AU: Allen and Unwin.
16.
FarringdonF.McBrideN., & MidfordR. (2000). The fine line: Students' perceptions of drinking, having fun and losing control. Youth Studies Australia, 19(3), 32–38.
17.
FlorenceM.FoucaultM.. (1998). Foucault. In FaubionJ. D. (Ed.), Aesthetics, method and epistemology: Essential works of Foucault 1954–1984. (Vol. 2, pp. 459–463). New York: The New Press.
18.
FoucaultM. (1988). Technologies of the self. In MartinL. H.GutmanH., & HuttonP. H. (Eds.), Technologies of the self: A seminar with Michel Foucault (pp. 16–49). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
19.
FoucaultM. (1991). Governmentality. In BurchellG.GordonC., & MillerP. (Eds.), The Foucault Effect: Studies in governmentality (pp. 87–104). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20.
GordonC. (1991). Governmental rationality: An introduction. In BurchellG.GordonC., & MillerP. (Eds.), The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality (pp. 1–51). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
21.
GriffinC.Bengry-HowellA.HackleyC.MistralW., & SzmiginI. (2009a). “Every time I do it I absolutely annihilate myself”: Loss of (self-)consciousness and loss of memory in young people's drinking narratives. Sociology, 43(3), 457–476.
22.
GriffinC.Bengry-HowellA.HackleyC.MistralW., & SzmiginI. (2009b). The allure of belonging: Young people's drinking practices and collective identification. In WetherellM. (Ed.), Identity in the 21st Century: New trends in new times (pp. 213–230). London: Palgrave.
23.
GubriumJ.F., & HolsteinJ.A. (2000). Analysing interpretive practice. In DenzinN. K., & LincolnY. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 487–508). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
24.
HackingI. (1986). Making up people. In HellerT. C.SosnaM., & WellberyD. E. (Eds.), Reconstructing individualism: Autonomy, individuality, and the self in Western thought (pp. 222–36). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
25.
HerringR.BerridgeV., & ThomB. (2008). Binge drinking: An exploration of a confused concept. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62(6), 476–479.
26.
HuttonF. (2012). Harm reduction, students and pleasure: An examination of student responses to a binge drinking campaign. International Journal of Drug Policy, 23(3), 229–235.
27.
JohnstonK., & WhiteK. (2004). Binge-drinking in female university students. Youth Studies Australia, 23(2), 22–30.
28.
JonesS., & GregoryP. (2010). Health warning labels on alcohol products—The views of Australian university students. Contemporary Drug Problems, 37(1), 109–137.
29.
KuntscheE.RehmJ., & GmelG. (2004). Characteristics of binge drinkers in Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 59(1), 113–127.
30.
KypriK.PaschallM.LangleyJ.BaxterJ., & BourdeauB. (2010). The role of drinking locations in university student drinking: Findings from a national web-based survey. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 111(1–2), 38–43.
31.
LindsayJ. (2005). Drinking in Melbourne pubs and clubs: A study of alcohol consumption contexts. Report. Clayton, AU: School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University.
32.
LoxelyW.GrayD.WilkinsonC.ChikritzhsT.MidfordR., & MooreD. (2005). Alcohol policy and harm reduction in Australia. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24(6), 559–568.
33.
LuptonD., & TullochJ. (2002). “Risk is part of your life”: Risk epistemologies among a group of Australians. Sociology, 36(2), 317–334.
MeashamF. (2006). The new policy mix: Alcohol, harm minimization, and determined drunkenness in contemporary society. International Journal of Drug Policy, 17(4), 258–268.
36.
MilesM., & HubermanM. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
37.
MooreD. (2010). Beyond disorder, danger, incompetence and ignorance: Rethinking the youthful subject of alcohol and other drug policy. Contemporary Drug Problems, 37(3), 475–498.
38.
MorganA., & McAtamneyA. (2009). Key issues in alcohol-related violence. Research in Practice no. 4. Canberra, AU: Australian Institute of Criminology.
O'MalleyP., & ValverdeM. (2004). Pleasure, freedom and drugs: The uses of “pleasure” in liberal governance of drug and alcohol consumption. Sociology, 38(1), 25–42.
44.
PanelliR.NairnK.AtwoolN., & McCormackJ. (2002). “Hanging Out”: Print media constructions of young people in “public space.”Childrenz Issues, 6(1), 23–30.
45.
PatrickM., & MaggsJ. (2008). Short-term changes in plans to drink and importance of positive and negative alcohol consequences. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 307–321.
PetersenA. (1996). The new public health: A new morality. In PetersenA. & LuptonD. (Eds.), The new public health: Health and self in the age of risk (pp. 1–26). St Leonards, AU: Allen & Unwin.
48.
RickwoodD.GeorgeA.ParkerR., & MikhailovichK. (2011). Harmful alcohol use on campus. Impact on young people at university. Youth Studies Australia, 30(1), 34–40.
RoseN. (1999). Governing the soul: The shaping of the private self (2nd ed.). London: Free Association Books.
51.
RoseN., & MillerP. (1992). Political power beyond the State: Problematics of government. British Journal of Sociology, 43(2), 173–205.
52.
RoseN.O'MalleyP., & ValverdeM. (2006). Governmentality. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 2, 83–104.
53.
RumboldG., & HamiltonM. (1998). Addressing drug problems: The case for harm minimization. In HamitonM.KellehearA., & RumboldG. (Eds.), Drug use in Australia: A harm minimization approach (pp. 130–144). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
54.
TuckerJ.EllicksonP.OrlandoM.MartinoS., & KleinD. (2005). Substance use trajectories from early adolescence to emerging adulthood: A comparison of smoking, binge drinking and marijuana use. Journal of Drug Issues, 35(2), 307–332.
55.
TutengesS., & RodHulvej M. (2009). “We got incredibly drunk … it was damned fun”: Drinking stories among Danish youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(4), 355–370.
56.
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association. (2010). Alcohol advertising, marketing and promotion. Position Paper. Collingwood, AU: Author.
57.
ZajdowG. (2011). Outsourcing the risks: Alcohol licensing, risk and the making of the night time economy. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 23(1), 73–84.
