Young adults' experiences of intoxication. An analysis of the dynamics of drinking habits in diary material

Abstract

Aim

The article studies the current state of Finnish drinking habits in the pub (literally ‘restaurant’ in Finnish) drinking diaries (N=60; 39 women, 21 men) of young adults. Drinking habits are theorised as cultural models by taking influences from Bourdieu's theory of habitus and from phenomenological and pragmatist concepts of habit.

Methods

The analysis of the diary material makes use of the tools developed in semiotic sociology and narratology. The main concern is with 1) what kind of roles or role does alcohol play in the narrators' stories, 2) how does the role of alcohol change or develop in the story lines; and 3) through what kinds of viewpoints is alcohol consumed and experienced? By addressing these three questions, it is possible to make inferences about prevailing drinking habits in Finnish culture.

Results

From the diaries it is possible to identify at least five different types of drinking habits and traditions layered in culture and in active use in social life: heroic intoxication, sociable partying, individual partying, hanging out, and meal drinking. These drinking habits differ from one another in terms of both motives and regulation. Even though they often occur in the same situations, they frame these situations as distinctive fields of activity.

Conclusions

The analysis shows that drinking to intoxication and drinking habits in Finland cannot be reduced to one single cultural core and tradition. In all the drinking habits that appear in the diaries there is a clear tendency to try and break away from goal-oriented, linear time and to move towards a cyclical, timeless time, which may be described as a search for a flow experience.