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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Bjarke Nielsen, Axel Klein and Vibeke Frank

101

Abstract

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Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Axel Klein, Vibeke Asmussen Frank and Bjarke Nielsen

385

Abstract

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Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Alexandra Bogren and Katarina Winter

A growing body of social research analyzes how the biomedical interest in detailed molecular aspects of people's bodies (genes, biomarkers, DNA) affect everyday notions of health…

230

Abstract

Purpose

A growing body of social research analyzes how the biomedical interest in detailed molecular aspects of people's bodies (genes, biomarkers, DNA) affect everyday notions of health, risk, and responsibility for health problems. However, this research focus has been largely neglected in social alcohol research. The purpose of this paper is to report on some early findings from a study of media portrayals of biomedical alcohol research and to present a rationale for studying biomedical alcohol research more broadly.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical discussion is based on textual analysis of 90 newspaper articles published in Swedish newspapers between 1995 and 2010 and one‐on‐one semi‐structured interviews with 24 newspaper readers about their interpretation of the newspaper portrayals. The motives for studying biomedical alcohol research more broadly are discussed in relation to existing research and theories of biomedicalization.

Findings

It is found that a large majority of the newspapers cite biomedical researchers to explain the mechanisms of addiction, and that biomedical research is often presented as revolutionary in scope. However, journalists also act as storytellers who explain the biomedical research results to readers. The reward system proved to be a central notion among the interviewees, who had their own, different and varying definitions of the concept. The authors suggest a framework for analyzing how biomedical knowledge is produced, communicated and utilized by three types of key actors.

Originality/value

The study presents a novel framework for studying biomedical alcohol research.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Vibeke Asmussen Frank, Anne‐Sofie Christensen and Helle Vibeke Dahl

Overall within cannabis research, only a few studies have specifically targeted the use of cannabis among the adult population, and consequently very little is known about the…

588

Abstract

Purpose

Overall within cannabis research, only a few studies have specifically targeted the use of cannabis among the adult population, and consequently very little is known about the consumption practices of this user group. The purpose of this paper is to explore how adult cannabis users integrate cannabis use into their daily life; a use that can be characterized as recreational use, i.e. a non‐problematic use of cannabis for pleasure and to get intoxicated. Despite the fact that cannabis use is illegal and larger societal views on consuming cannabis still is subject to stigmatization and “unruly conduct”.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on qualitative interviews with 39 persons who were cannabis users as well as growers. The interviewees could not be described as “deviants” and the vast majority of them were socially well integrated. For how long the interviewees had been using cannabis depended on age as well as different life circumstances.

Findings

The paper shows how cannabis users commonly employ two strategies when integrating cannabis use into their everyday life and keeping up a meaningful life: refraining from using cannabis in particular situations and smoking alone. The interviewees in particular find it unacceptable to smoke cannabis when around children, engaging with family members, and when at work. The interview narratives reveal how cannabis consumption as narrated by the interviewees is embedded not only in balancing a controlled use applicable to the everyday situations and practices that the interviewees are engaged in, but also to more wider, societal norms and values around acceptable and unacceptable use of cannabis. The main analytical concept applied is moral reasoning.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to research on adult cannabis users.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Johan Nordgren

This article aims to analyse the discourse about khat in the Swedish newspaper media and to present the concept of moral entrepreneurship as a useful analytical tool for…

299

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to analyse the discourse about khat in the Swedish newspaper media and to present the concept of moral entrepreneurship as a useful analytical tool for understanding mobilisation against khat use in the Somali diaspora.

Design/methodology/approach

The material analysed consists of daily newspaper articles about khat published between 1986 and 2012. The method of analysis is inspired by the critical discourse analysis framework developed by Norman Fairclough. Drawing on Howard S. Becker's concept of moral entrepreneur, the article focuses on anti‐khat campaigners who speak out against khat in the media. These are often representatives from Somali voluntary associations or organisations, who sometimes employ moral entrepreneurship. The article discusses these actors' role in framing khat use as a tangible threat to the Somali community in Sweden.

Findings

When employing moral entrepreneurship, anti‐khat campaigners spread a certain type of knowledge about khat that is presented to the general public via the media. The key issues that repeatedly are of concern are how khat destroys Somali families and how the use might spread to other groups. In this manner khat use is constructed as a threat to Somali social cohesion. The knowledge produced could potentially influence policy makers to introduce stricter punishments for possession, sale and use of khat, thereby possibly increasing stigma and marginalisation in relation to the Somali immigrant community.

Originality/value

The literature about khat has pointed to the centrality of Somali organisations mobilising against khat in the diaspora. This article presents moral entrepreneurship as a theoretical tool to further the understanding of the mobilisation against khat and its use.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Mette Irmgard Snertingdal

In this paper the aim is to explore what modes of governance, brief alcohol interventions in natal care, such as screening and motivational interviewing (MI) represent, and what…

213

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper the aim is to explore what modes of governance, brief alcohol interventions in natal care, such as screening and motivational interviewing (MI) represent, and what social consequences this mode of governance might lead to. Traditionally the Nordic public health research on alcohol control policies gives priority to general control measures aimed at the population. However, the paper seeks to argue the relevance of a governmentality perspective to analyze the mode of governance in brief alcohol interventions which aims at individual level of control.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical base of the paper rests on the contents of a brief intervention educational program aimed at midwifes and medical doctors in natal care in Norway. In light of the governmentality perspective the author analyzes screening and MI used in natal care as a mode of governance which fosters the process of responsibilization and the creation of the “irresponsible other”.

Findings

It is argued that brief alcohol intervention in natal care is a perfect example of a neoliberal mode of governance, because it is an indirect way of governance, which casts healthcare workers as a part of the state that wants to make pregnant woman self‐governing and responsible. Further this neoliberal mode of governance might lead to four different social consequences: blurring the line between the power of the state and the power of the self, which blurs the distinction between objective health hazards and moral judgment; spreading of powerful therapeutic‐tools to non‐therapeutic professions further neutralizes the moral dimensions; individualization of responsibilities for fetal health decontextualizes females' drinking habits; and drawing the attention of the healthcare worker towards regulations of normality and away from helping females with severe drinking problems.

Originality/value

Traditionally the Nordic public health research on alcohol control policies gives priority to general control measures aimed at the population. However, this paper shows the relevance of a governmentality perspective to analyze the mode of governance inherent in brief alcohol interventions which aims at an individual level of control. Alongside the general control measures in Norwegian alcohol policies, the state engages women at an individual level, through brief and early interventions. Hence the state has double targets of governance; first the general risk‐avoidance regulations directed at the population, and then the state also facilitating the targeting of individuals.

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Johan Edman

This article seeks to investigate the ideological visions embedded in the political formulation of the Swedish drug problem and in the bureaucratic management of the Swedish drug…

833

Abstract

Purpose

This article seeks to investigate the ideological visions embedded in the political formulation of the Swedish drug problem and in the bureaucratic management of the Swedish drug treatment services during the years 1960‐2000.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical basis for the analysis consists mainly of parliamentary material from the Swedish Parliament (403 parliamentary bills, 66 government bills, 198 parliamentary records, 14 government letters and 159 standing committee statements) as well as archival materials produced in the application process of 73 aspiring treatment homes from the years 1960‐2001. The empirical material is partly analyzed from a theoretical understanding of political consensus as a doxa and political debate as permeated by naturalizing ideologies.

Findings

The article examines drug consumption as a political problem and its ideological undertones. It shows how drugs and drug consumption often have been subordinate in problem descriptions that have fulfilled other political purposes. Worries about politically radical youth, foreign religions or incomprehensible music have been understood as a drug problem. In the Swedish parliament the drug problem has been described in terms of capitalist class oppression, Americanism or cultural superficiality. Modernity, urbanization and industrialization have also been criticized in the name of the drug problem. In the treatment centres and within the ruling bureaucracy it was also elucidated that the drug problem was an ideological problem. The effective treatment method has been elusive, but the effective method has also played second fiddle in the choice of treatment solutions. Other values have been awarded, such as rural romanticism, Swedishness, solidarity and diligence. Individualism, Americanism and profit making have also been opposed within the ideological treatment sector. At the end of the research period such assessments however became subordinate to an overarching ideological quest to make substance abuse treatment a market among others.

Social implications

A focus on the ideological content both in political discussions and bureaucratic management might enrich the understanding of both politics and bureaucracy as well as the formulation of the drug problem and the suggested solutions. Ideology is not the opposite of facts or evidence‐based solutions; ideology permeates every aspect of problem formulations and solutions. To recognize the drug issue's ideological disposition should therefore not be seen as way of avoiding discussions about the actual dilemma with drugs, it is rather an opportunity to seriously start a discussion on how to solve the problem.

Originality/value

The analyzing of naturalized and apparently self‐evident ideology as part of the rational argument rather than its very opposite would be useful both for further research on the topic as well as for deepening the democratic discussions on, for instance, evidence‐based methods within the drug treatment services.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Matilda Hellman and Sara Rolando

The study aims to investigate a possible application of the concepts of individualist and collectivist (I‐C) value traits in inquiries on alcohol drinking norms in different…

344

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to investigate a possible application of the concepts of individualist and collectivist (I‐C) value traits in inquiries on alcohol drinking norms in different alcohol cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from focus group discussions (n=16) with Italian and Finnish adolescents (aged 13‐16) is trialled against some typical dissimilarities featured in the literature on I‐C cultures.

Findings

The study shows that the features identified in the I‐C dichotomy regarding personality traits and parental goal for children correlate with some culturally anchored meaning‐making of agency and autonomy emphasized in judgements of correct ways of drinking.

Originality/value

The authors conclude that with certain caveats I‐C dichotomy could indeed be applied more in the cross‐cultural alcohol research.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 1983

Jorn Kiel and Jerker Nilsson

The purpose of this paper is to present Danish distribution research, with an emphasis on research conducted during the last decade. In order to give the reader an understanding…

83

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present Danish distribution research, with an emphasis on research conducted during the last decade. In order to give the reader an understanding of the background of current research, a number of older projects are also mentioned. We refrain, on the other hand, from suggesting any trends for the future development of Danish distribution research — trends concerning topics, paradigms and methodology. As will be seen, the volume of research is quite small and the number of researchers is very limited. Hence, the future of distribution research is very dependent on the development of a few individuals and on their subjective choices. Having said this, it should also be made clear that what is presented below deals only with academic research.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Materials Management, vol. 13 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0269-8218

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Book part
Publication date: 10 February 2015

Peer Hull Kristensen

This paper is concerned to show how the Danish political elite interpreted and responded to the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis for the Danish economy. In particular…

Abstract

This paper is concerned to show how the Danish political elite interpreted and responded to the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis for the Danish economy. In particular, the paper describes how this interpretive construction focused primarily on three features of the Danish context to the exclusion of other perspectives; the first was an emphasis on the problems of the financial sector, of interest rates and state finances; the second was that Danish productivity increases were falling behind other comparable countries and part of the solution required new strategies towards labour and unemployment benefits; thirdly, the adverse effects of the crisis were causing an increase in government expenditure and a decline in government revenues which was rapidly becoming unsustainable. As a consequence, the Danish elite fell into the broader interpretation of the crisis embedded in the dominant view within the EU institutions as well as among the international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, that a period of austerity and fiscal consolidation was the required remedy, even though this was likely to be pro-cyclical in its effects. However, the paper shows that alternative data which is more reflective of Denmark’s position in the global economy and the trajectory and form of its growth over the last decade reveals that the interpretation of the Danish elite has been too narrow and neglects the distinctive roots of Denmark’s competitive strengths. Indeed, by responding in the way which they have, the Danish elite is in danger of undermining the very conditions of Denmark’s competitiveness.

Details

Elites on Trial
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-680-5

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