News

SARN June 2021 Meeting – Research presentation

The research presentation from the SARN Members’ June 2021 Meeting is now available, which was presented on 14 June 2021 via Zoom.

Daniel Jones (University of Stirling) presented: “Alcohol packaging as a marketing and health communications tool: a focus group study with young adult drinkers in Scotland”.

Alcohol Occasionals event report – April 2021

Understanding drinking transitions during lockdown – Dr Emily Nicholls

In our fourth Alcohol Occasionals event of 2021 held on Wednesday 28 April, Dr Emily Nicholls, Lecturer in Sociology, University of York presented research she conducted with Dr Dominic Conroy on drinking transitions during lockdown.

You can read the event report on the SHAAP website.

You can also watch the research presentation and the full recording with presentations and discussion/Q+A.

QMJC #6 Write-up

Meeting #6 (April 2021) – Salerno Valdez et al. (2019)

In our sixth and final meeting on Tuesday 20 April, we discussed Salerno Valdez et al. How the U.S.-Mexico border influences adolescent substance use: Youth participatory action research using photovoice. The International Journal on Drug Policy, 73, 146–155. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.07.011

In this study, researchers developed a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) approach with a state-funded youth coalition group on the US/Mexico border to explore factors influencing adolescent substance use. Twenty three young people were trained as researchers, and carried out a “photovoice” study, using photographs they had taken to document what they perceived as environmental influences on their behaviour and that of their peers. Photos were used to generate discussion and develop recommendations to improve the environment in which the young people lived. This paper is a superb example of co-production of research, Participatory Action Research (PAR), as of the photovoice approach…… [Read on]

Dr Matt Smith

Read the full report on the SSA website

Alcohol Occasionals event report – March 2021

Alcohol-related violence and deprivation – Dr Carly Lightowlers and Lucy Bryant

In our third Alcohol Occasionals event of 2021 held on Tuesday 30 March, Dr Carly Lightowlers, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Liverpool & Lucy Bryant, Research and Policy Officer, Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) presented their research on alcohol-related violence and deprivation.

You can read the event report on the SHAAP website.

You can also watch the research presentations and the full recording with presentations and discussion/Q+A.

QMJC #5 Write-up

Meeting #5 (March 2021) – Brierley-Jones et al. (2014)

In our fifth meeting on Wednesday 24 March, we discussed Brierley-Jones et al. Habitus of home and traditional drinking: a qualitative analysis of reported middle-class alcohol use. Sociol Health Illn. 2014; 36(7): 1054-76. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12145

This qualitative paper explores attitudes, meanings and behaviours in relation to alcohol consumption among professional, managerial and clerical employees. The title clearly conveys the topic, indicating the paper will focus on alcohol use among middle-class people. The authors suggest that members of higher socioeconomic groups may build resistance to harmful effects of alcohol through healthy behaviours (e.g. diet, physical activity) and may not access relevant services until irreversible health damage has occurred. The study draws on Bourdieu’s (1984) conceptual framework, which suggests that choices of food and drink are aligned with one’s position in the class hierarchy. It describes the idea of “habitus” – a set of socially ingrained dispositions and practices, that explain the way people understand and respond to the world around them….. [Read on]

Dr Elena Dimova

Read the full report on the SSA website