Informal social control of drinking. Finland in the light of international comparison

Abstract

Miesten juomista kontrolloidaan enemmän kuin naisten

Juomisen epävirallinen kontrolli on selvästi yhteydessä sukupuoleen: miesten alkoholin käyttöä kontrolloidaan enemmän kuin naisten, eikä kontrolli riipu juomisen määrästä. Suomalaisista miehistä noin neljännes ja naisista noin joka kymmenes oli kokenut, että joku oli viimeisen vuoden aikana yrittänyt saada heitä juomaan vähemmän tai harvemmin. Tavallisimmin juomista yritti rajoittaa puoliso.

Epävirallinen kontrolli on Suomessa kuitenkin harvinaisempaa kuin useimmissa muissa tutkituissa maissa Euroopan mittakaavassa Suomi sijoittuu suunnilleen keskitasolle. Suomessa siis vallitsee epäsuhta juomisen suuren määrän ja epävirallisen kontrollin välillä. Voidaankin pohtia, juotaisiinko Suomessa vähemmän, jos siihen puututtaisiin nykyistä herkemmin myös epävirallisissa yhteyksissä, lähinnä kodeissa.

Kontrollin kohteeksi joutumisen todennäköisyys kasvaa sitä mukaa, mitä enemmän juo tai mitä useammin on humalassa. Tutkittujen maiden välillä oli suurta vaihtelua siinä, kuinka suuri osa vastaajista oli kokenut juomiseensa puututtavan. Kehitysmaissa puuttuminen näytti olevan huomattavasti teollistuneita länsimaita yleisempää. Näissä maissa aktiivisia puuttujia ovat muutkin kuin puolisot.

Juomisen epävirallisen kontrollin taustalla on aina jokin syy, eikä kontrollia ole ilman ongelmia. Ennen puuttumistoimiin ryhtymistä kontrolloijan on oltava sitä mieltä, että toisen juominen on ongelmallista. Tietoisuus ongelmista aiheuttaa paineita ja haittaa kontrolloijalle. Kun juomishaitat lisääntyvät yhteiskunnassa, lisääntyvät myös välillisesti tai suoraan muihin kuin juojiin kohdistuvat haitat. Niillä voi olla kauaskantoisia vaikutuksia kansanterveyteen ja jopa kansantalouteen.

Suomessa juomista kontrolloidaan virallisesti enemmän kuin monissa muissa maissa. Suomessa alkoholia myös käytetään enemmän kuin useissa muissa Euroopan maissa, joten haitatkin ovat yleisempiä. Kun alkoholijuomien hinnat laskivat Suomessa vuoden 2004 veronalennuksen ja alkoholin tuontirajoitusten purkaminen seurauksena, alkoholin kulutus ja juomisesta aiheutuvat haitat lisääntyivät huomattavasti. Juomisen ja juomishaittojen kontrolloinnin siirryttyä osittain valtiolta paikalliselle ja yksilötasolle epävirallisen sosiaalisen kontrollin, käytännössä läheisten ihmisten kontrollin, merkitys on korostunut.

Stakesin tutkija Kirsimarja Raitasalon väitöstutkimuksen kohteena oli alkoholinkäyttöön kohdistuva epävirallinen kontrolli. Tutkimus tarkasteli alkoholin käytön epävirallista kontrollia Suomessa ja kansainvälisesti. Päähuomio oli puolisoiden välisissä kontrolliyrityksissä, sillä juomisen kontrollointi on yleisintä parisuhteissa.

This study examines the informal social control of alcohol consumption. The study attempts to discover how respondents interpret the survey questions about alcohol consumption and about the control of alcohol usage, and how control exercised by the spouse affects the drinker's concerns about self-control and the drinking patterns. Further, the study discusses the cultural differences in drinking and social control.

The research object is viewed from the perspective of social control theories. The study proceeds from the subjective level to the general social level, and further to the informal social control of drinking in Finland as seen through international comparisons. The main focus is on control exercised by the spouse, as controlling alcohol consumption is most common in a couple relationship.

The degree of formal and informal social control depends on the norms for acceptable drinking and drinking-related problems. Furthermore, the underlying reasons that trigger control are linked with both the cultural norms as well as subjective views on when alcohol use becomes unacceptable. Informal social control of drinking is expressed only when drinking exceeds the subjective or cultural norms. It should be noted here that subjective norms are always linked with the norms of the society. Hence, the level of informal social control is always linked to the level of formal control.

Recently, EU legislation and the expanded markets have caused the traditional Finnish alcohol policy and restrictive pricing policies to lose much of their impact. Consumer prices were decreased as a result of the reduction of excise duty on alcohol and the liberation of passenger import in 2004. Consequently, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems have increased dramatically. In the current situation, where control has to some extent been removed from the central, governmental level to the local and individual levels, the importance of informal social control in reducing alcohol consumption and alleviating the related problems has increased.

Research data was partly taken from the international GENACIS Project (Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study). Of the participating countries, the 18 countries that had asked a question on the social control of drinking were included in this analysis. As for Finland, the data from the STAKES 2000 Drinking Habits Survey was used. In addition, a qualitative study by STAKES in 2001 were used in this study to analyse in more detail how the questions in the other sections of the survey were understood.

Gender is clearly a factor in the informal social control of drinking: irrespective of the amount of drinking, the drinking patterns of men are more often controlled than the drinking patterns of women. Of the Finnish men, 23% felt they had been persuaded to drink less or less often during the last 12 months. For women, the percentage was 9. Control was most commonly expressed by the spouse. This is true across all the countries that participated in the surveys, including Finland. The amount of alcohol consumed and especially the frequency of excessive drinking, together with the drinking-related harm, increase the likelihood of becoming a subject of social control. Across the countries, there was considerable variation on how many of the respondents had felt that their drinking habits were being controlled. Compared with the industrialised countries, interference in general seems to be much more common in the developing countries. In these countries, other members of the society not just the spouse have also actively interfered with drinking.

The frequency and extent of the social control of drinking seems to be strongly linked with the amount of abstainers in the country. The more there are abstainers, the more drinking is controlled. For men, but not for women, the frequency and extent of control is linked with overall alcohol consumption.

The qualitative study shows that there are several ways to interpret the meaning of "controlling drinking". This draws attention to the formulation of the survey questions: they need to be explicit in order to be uniformly understood by all of the respondents.

Social informal control of drinking is always triggered by some underlying reason. When there are no problems, there is no need for control. The problems may be serious or the severity can be a subjective estimate of the situation. Before applying any form of social control, the controller perceives that the drinking is harmful on some level. The frequency of informal social control reflects the extent of drinking-related problems in the society. Being aware of these problems causes stress and anxiety to the people who are looking after the drinker. Living under such stress usually causes problems that are reflected in the physical and/or mental health, work or in other areas of life. In society, the increase in drinking-related problems will directly or indirectly give rise to problems concerning non-drinkers. These problems will burden e.g. public health care, and may have far reaching effects on primary health and even national economy.