Lines in the Sand

Abstract

This study identifies social representations in interviews about alcohol and substance use in the discourse of 129 young adults, who were interviewed for 2.5 to 3.5 hours each for their life histories and use or non-use of alcoholic beverages and drugs. Respondents spontaneously delineated their substance use boundaries, creating a continuum of behaviors with boundary points separating acceptable from unacceptable behaviors. They used signaling expressions to indicate go and stop signs and movement along the substance use continuum and reported negotiating substance use boundaries both internally and with peers. A ubiquitous narrative element was the cautionary tale, in which a negative exemplar goes too far with alcohol and/or drugs, providing an example of the possible negative outcomes of transgressing boundaries. In general, the narratives revealed complex relationships to alcohol and other drugs that may be useful in refining messages for more effective communication in prevention and intervention programs.

Alcohol in the life narratives of women: Commonalities and differences by sexual orientation

“…A majority of respondents defined their use as within their acceptable boundaries, even with heavier consumption, but also described specific markers for being “out of control” and exemplars for negative consequences. These findings were echoed in another study with a different sample (Trocki et al, 2013), and may suggest constructs that could be addressed in treatment or early intervention settings.…”

“…Social representations theory has been used to examine representations of drinking patterns of both women and men (da Silva & Padilha, 2011; Demers, Kishchuk, Bourgault, & Bisson, 1996; da Silva & de Souza, 2005; Trocki, Michalak, & Drabble, 2013) and in regard to men and HIV/AIDS (Camargo & Bousfield, 2009; Goodwin et al, 2004; Joffe, 2003; Páez et al, 1991; Riley & Baah-Odoom, 2010). Because social representations emerge through the interaction between individuals, the idea that is represented, and the social groups within which representations make sense (Bauer, 1999), this framework is particularly useful for analyses of individual and collective meaning as well as ways that ideas may vary between groups.…”

Go-along interviewing with LGBTQ youth in Canada and the United States

“…Focus groups pose additional challenges to moving around (some researchers have attempted this), and are most often conducted stationary. Certainly, there are important qualitative studies recently conducted with LGBTQ youth that have explored social influences using stationary oral/written storytelling narrative techniques (Bond & Loewenstern, 2014; Harper, Brodsky, & Bruce, 2012; Hillier, Mitchell, & Ybarra, 2012; Olive, 2012; Trocki, Michalak, & Drabble, 2013). Go-along interview methods present opportunities to overcome the constraints of stationary qualitative techniques and expand the utility of open-ended interviewing, as well as increases youth ownership and direction over the data collection experience.…”