265 FOURTEEN ‘Binge drinking’, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related disorder: examining the 2003 Licensing Act Paul Norris and Derek Williams In this chapter, we locate the patterns of behaviour now routinely labelled as ‘binge drinking’ within spatial, economic and cultural changes associated with the growth of the night-time economy of British cities and towns since 1987 (see Taylor, 1999; Hobbs et al, 2000; Hadfield, 2006). We also explore recent policy interventions in respect of licensing hours, regulation and ‘liberalisation’. Such changes are
239 FIFTEEN ‘Binge’ drinking devils and moral marginality: young people’s calculated hedonism in the Canterbury night-time economy Robert McPherson Introduction Young people have long been associated with being ‘folk devils’ (Cohen, 2002), who are morally marginalised by the moral indignation and controversy related to media portrayals of recreational substance use (Young, 1971). This chapter examines the media framing of the contemporary alcohol consumption practice known as ‘binge’ drinking, and how negative media representations of young people and
employing a narrative of deregulation. Various academics have highlighted how the relaxation of certain licensing restrictions has been harnessed by national and local government in order to foster a vibrant night-time economy. This night-time economy provided an engine for the regeneration of some urban areas and helped to create jobs, growth and, through various forms of 171 Alcohol, crime and disorder taxation, valuable revenue for governments. However, the night-time economy is also accused of encouraging forms of heavy drinking or ‘binge drinking’, which are
Tabloid headlines such as ‘Anti-social Feral Youth,’ ‘Vile Products of Welfare in the UK’ and ‘One in Four Adolescents is a Criminal’ have in recent years obscured understanding of what social justice means for young people and how they experience it. Youth marginality in Britain offers a new perspective by promoting young people’s voices and understanding the agency behind their actions. It explores different forms of social marginalisation within media, culture and society, focusing on how young people experience social discrimination at a personal and collective level.
This collection from a wide range of expert contributors showcases contemporary research on multiple youth deprivation of personal isolation, social hardship, gender and ethnic discrimination and social stigma. With a foreword from Robert MacDonald, it explores the intersection of race, gender, class, asylum seeker status and care leavers in Britain, placing them in the broader context of austerity, poverty and inequality to highlight both change and continuity within young people’s social and cultural identities.
This timely contribution to debates concerning youth austerity in Britain is suitable for students across youth studies, sociology, education, criminology, youth work and social policy.
This book critically explores the urban governance of healthy lifestyles and the contemporary problematisations of the obesity, sedentarism and alcohol “epidemics". To do so, it uses US and UK case studies to shed light on the complex socio-spatial dynamics of responsibilities for health and argues for an engagement with the construct of “sensible" behaviour at a time of its rising political salience. This book will appeal to sociologists, geographers, anthropologists and those concerned with the governance of health and lifestyle.
Alcohol consumption is frequently described as a contemporary, worsening and peculiarly British social problem that requires radical remedial regulation. Informed by historical research and sociological analysis, this book takes an innovative and refreshing look at how public attitudes and the regulation of alcohol have developed through time. It argues that, rather than a response to trends in consumption or harm, ongoing anxieties about alcohol are best understood as ‘hangovers’ derived, in particular, from the Victorian period. The product of several years of research, this book aims to help readers re-evaluate their understandings of drinking. As such, it is essential reading for students, academics and anyone with a serious interest in Britain’s ‘drink problem’.
It is critical that the wellbeing of society is systematically tracked by indicators that not only give an accurate picture of human life today but also provide a window into the future for all of us.
This book presents impactful findings from international longitudinal studies that respond to the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 commitment to “leave no-one behind”. Contributors explore a wide range and complexity of pressing global issues, with emphasis given to excluded and vulnerable populations and gender inequality.
Importantly, it sets out actionable strategies for policymakers and practitioners to help strengthen the global Sustainable Development Goals framework, accelerate their implementation and improve the construction of effective public policy.
Issues relating to alcohol ‘misuse’ can only properly be understood within their social and environmental contexts. This research and practice based book explores social models of alcohol misuse to offer a sociological approach to its treatment.
Through considering the social meaning of women’s alcohol use, the book challenges current policy and practice in the field. It raises concerns about the political role of ‘treatment’ in making women behave, or to be ‘well’, and aims to develop a new approach to women’s drinking and new ways of aiding recovery, at national and local levels.
With contributions from service users, academics and practitioners, this is essential reading for those studying addiction, gender and the social background to alcohol problems.
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) has been a major preoccupation of New Labour’s project of social and political renewal, with ASBOs a controversial addition to crime and disorder management powers. Thought by some to be a dangerous extension of the power to criminalise, by others as a vital dimension of local governance, there remains a concerning lack of evidence as to whether or not they compound social exclusion.
This collection, from an impressive panel of contributors, brings together opinion, commentary, research evidence, professional guidance, debate and critique in order to understand the phenomenon of anti-social behaviour. It considers the earliest available evidence in order to evaluate the Government’s ASB strategy, debates contrasting definitions of anti-social behaviour and examines policy and practice issues affected by it.
Contributors ask what the recent history of ASB governance tells us about how the issue will develop to shape public and social policies in the years to come. Reflecting the perspectives of practitioners, victims and perpetrators, the book should become the standard text in the field.
The general well-being of British adolescents has been the topic of considerable debate in recent years, but too often this is based on myth rather than fact. Are today’s young people more stressed, anxious, distressed or antisocial than they used to be? What does research evidence tell us about the adolescent experience today and how it has changed over time? And how do trends in adolescent well-being since the 1970s relate to changes in education, leisure, communities and family life in that time?
This unique volume brings together the main findings from the Nuffield Foundation’s Changing Adolescence Programme and explores how social change may affect young people’s behaviour, mental health and transitions toward adulthood. As well as critiquing research evidence, which will be of interest to a wide academic audience, the book will inform the wider debate on this subject among policy makers and service providers, voluntary organisations and campaign groups.
