Young People, Alcohol, and Risk

Young People, Alcohol, and Risk theorises the social, cultural, and economic shifts that have underpinned significant declines in young people’s drinking in high-income countries.

Since the early 2000s, alcohol use among young people has declined significantly in most high-income countries. Situated within a theoretical framework of ‘social generations’ and ‘risk’, this book explores the key interrelated factors that have cumulatively shifted the social and cultural position of alcohol for young people in these countries. Drawing on interviews and survey data from the authors’ research in Australia, Sweden and the UK, as well as the broader international literature, the book explores the importance of changes in attitudes to alcohol, shifting family and parenting practices, digital technology use and changes in leisure practices, neoliberalism and individualism, health and wellbeing, and gendered practices. These factors have made salient the notion of risk for young people, resulting in a culture of caution.

This book will of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences, in particular those studying substance use, youth sociology, cultural studies and public health. It will be of use to policy makers and practitioners working with young people.