Youth: Shifting Image of Alcohol-Free Lifestyle
A new study reports youth in Finland and Australia are shifting to an alcohol-free lifestyle. The study found they are using similar mechanisms in maintaining their alcohol-free lifestyle and to manage the potential exclusion by peers who use alcohol.
The mechanisms are:
- Selecting the right response and crowd
- Taking the focus away from alcohol
- Having a group or scene of non-alcohol users
- Being active and having fun
- Understanding sobriety as an individual choice and control
- Framing alcohol consumption as a moral issue
Whichever mechanism they use this positive trend is catching on.
Both Finland and Australia have high rates of alcohol consumption but despite this, both countries are experiencing significant reductions in the numbers of people who [use alcohol],’’ said Dr Pavlidis, the lead researcher of the study, as per Griffith News.
The study demonstrates how the global phenomenon of the increasing attractiveness of the alcohol-free lifestyle manifests in local youth cultural practices.
Youth who are choosing to live alcohol-free manage the possible stigma and social exclusion that comes from their choice not simply by hiding their abstention, but also actively redefining social situations and practices. These youth stand against the alcohol norm and the alcohol intoxication youth culture. These actions will slowly change and reshape youth culture to be alcohol-free.
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