Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

This paper aims to depict and analyze how professionals in Swedish social services legitimize two ideologically controversial help interventions, methadone maintenance and coercive treatment. Should addiction treatment primarily rehabilitate clients, or should it be a short-term measure for harm reduction? This question has been less and less discussed in Sweden during the past few years, as it has been accepted that all help should be based on science, not ideology – irrespective of it being aimed at harm reduction or rehabilitation. However, there is a lack of research regarding how crucial players in addiction treatment relate to this development, especially when applied on socially vulnerable clients.

The empirical material consists of 33 qualitative interviews with social workers from Stockholm and its surrounding area. The interviews are analyzed through discourse analysis.

When describing their work, the respondents’ discourse assumed and advocated progress in client case management.

By emphasizing concepts such as lifestyle change, client motivation, psychosocial support and aftercare the social workers could construct the two forms of treatment as less ideologically extreme, but also as undoubtedly aligned with the political goal of rehabilitation.

To explore the effects of client and therapist characteristics along with percentage of days abstinent before admission on retention and effectiveness of outpatient substance abuse treatment.

The study was implemented with naturalistic principles and prospective design. The clients (N = 327) and the therapists (N = 33) were recruited from Finnish outpatient treatment units (N = 7).

The client's low readiness to change, the therapist's low directiveness and low empathy predicted short duration of treatment. Client's past substance use frequency was likewise a significant predictor of retention in treatment; clients with low percentage of days abstinent at baseline dropped out much more easily. The client's high anger and low percentage of days abstinent at baseline was found to predict low percentage of days abstinent at follow-up. Greater satisfaction with support from therapist was predicted by client's high readiness to change and lower substance use frequency at baseline.

Retention in treatment was predicted by both client's and therapist's characteristics, while effectiveness in outpatient substance abuse treatment was more dependent on client's characteristics and earlier substance use.

To analyze how two youth alcohol prevention campaigns funded by the Danish alcohol industry articulate the relationship between alcohol, intoxication and pleasure.

The two campaigns are first analyzed by applying an analytical model developed by Karlsson and Bergmark (2009) to analyze drug prevention campaigns in Sweden. After this a more detailed analysis of how the two campaigns articulate pleasure is done.

Both campaigns recognize recreational motives for consuming alcohol. In both campaigns pleasure is central to the regulation of alcohol consumption among young people. Both campaigns aim to associate alcohol consumption with a disciplined pleasure that does not involve intoxication. In this way alcohol policy becomes a politics of pleasure.

Alcohol prevention that aims to moderate alcohol consumption among young people by associating alcohol consumption with disciplined pleasure can be seen as a corporate social responsibility strategy by the alcohol industry. These strategies become relevant to include in order to understand prevention efforts within the national state.

This article analyzes the use of alcohol in Finnish metal music lyrics from the perspective of cultural studies. It explores how alcohol is represented in the lyrics and focuses on the theme of shame and self-destructive drinking.

Songs by Timo Rautiainen ja Trio Niskalaukaus (n=28), Kotiteollisuus (n=101) and Viikate (n=155) are analysed. Most attention is given to Elegia (2002, Elegy), a song by Timo Rautiainen ja Trio Niskalaukaus.

Analysis of the lyrics involves narratology semiotics and cultural theory.

Shame is the common factor in the lyrics and also the root of problem drinking. Alcohol is used as a way to overcome the feelings of shame. In Elegia the son's death caused by drinking brings shame over his mother. The song portrays a traditional Finnish tale of male misfortune. Such tragedies filled with shame are cultural narratives in Finnish culture. They portray alcohol and shame as the root of male problems.

These tragedies leave little hope for the male main characters; recovery is not an option. Understanding such cultural narratives can broaden knowledge of alcohol and drug abuse.