UNIVERSITY OF LONDON RESPONSES TO ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS IN FOUR WESTERN COUNTRIES: CHARACTERISING AND EXPLAINING CULTURAL WETNESS AND DRYNESS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL POLICY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE BY CATHERINE ELAINE GILCHRIST TORONTO, CANADA DECEMBER 2003 UMI Number: U615617 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615617 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 rM £S£S a225 loiwtz Copyright 2003 by Catherine Gilchrist All rights reserved CATHERINE ELAINE GILCHRIST RESPONSES TO ALCOHOL RELATED PROBLEMS IN FOUR WESTERN COUNTRIES: CHARACTERISING AND EXPLAINING CULTURAL WETNESS AND DRYNESS DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ABSTRACT There have been many variations on the theme of “wet” versus “dry” patterns of alcohol consumption. “Wet” and “dry” ideal types, primarily based on the extent to which alcohol customs are integrated and consistent with or antithetical to societal norms, can be located at opposite ends of a continuum and include distinctive patterns of consequences of drinking as well as different assumptions regarding societal responses to drinking. The “diy” proponents primarily focus on medical issues, the long-term consequences of alcohol consumption, while the “wet” proponents are far more concerned with the social disruptiveness associated with drinking. These correlate with very different types of drinking patterns or habits: sporadic bouts of intoxication for the “drys” and chronic heavy consumption for the “wets.” Canada, England, France and Sweden were selected for comparison because the variation between their “wet”/“dry” status exemplifies the extent to which the “w ef’/’’dry” paradigm is capable of accounting for each country’s history of alcohol consumption and its regulation. Seventeen alcohol-specific characteristics are analysed within five main categories: popular movements and the politicisation of alcohol; consumption statistics; drinking patterns and cultural meanings of alcohol; alcohol-related problems; and alcohol policy. Largely ignored in the formal evaluative literature, most of what currently exists on the subject has been collected piecemeal and presented ad hoc. This thesis examines whether cultural influences, particularly the “w ef’/“dry” paradigm, influence the effectiveness of alcohol control policies. The purpose then is to contribute to the state of knowledge and theorising regarding the nature and explanation of variation between “wet” and “dry” cultures as archetypes, both in terms of the cultural position of alcohol and policy preferences and about the processes of change in a “wetter” or “dryer” direction; integral to this is the provision of alternative modes of conceiving the resolution to specific alcohol problems. To Ian, Keir, Evan, Douglas, Audrey and David Whatever reason people may have for drinking alcoholic beverages, few would say - and fewer believe - that thirst plays a major role in many societies. Dwight B. Heath “A decade of development in the anthropological study of alcohol use, 1970-1980” In Constructive Drinking: Perspectives on Drink from Anthropology TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: AIMS AND METHODS........................................................................ 18 Research Objectives....................................................................................................18 A im s.............................................................................................................................20 Purpose........................................................................................................................ 20 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................... 22 Methodology................................................................................................................23 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL CONCEPTS.............................................................................. 28 1.1 The Emerging Anthropological Theory of Alcohol U s e................................. 28 1.2 The Sociocultural M odel........................................................ 31 1.3 The Normative Model ........................................................................................ 34 1.3.1 Deviance.............................................................................................. 39 1.3.2 Labelling.............................................................................................. 39 1.3.3 Reference G roups................................................................................ 40 1.3.4 A nom ie................................................................................................. 41 1.3.5 The “Time Out” Hypothesis ............................................................... 41 1.3.6 Ambivalence/Inoculation Hypothesis................................................ 42 1.4 Culture-specific M odels.................................................................................... 44 1.5 The Single Distribution Model / Distribution of Consumption Model . 44 1.6 Social Network / Social Interaction Theory ...................................................... 47 1.7 Symbolic Interactionist M odel............................................................................ 50 1.8 Functional Interpretations as M odels............................................. 51 1.8.1 The Anxiety M odel.............................................................................. 51 1.8.2 The Social Organisation Model ......................................................... 52 1.8.3 The Conflict-over-Dependency M odel.............................................. 53 1.8.4 The Power M o d el................................................................................ 53 1.9 Socialisation and Social Learning Models......................................................... 54 6 1.10 Summary 56 CHAPTER 2 “WET”/“DRY” POLICY OPTIONS.................................................................. 58 2.1 “Wet” Policies: The Integrationist Approach ................................................. 59 2.2 “Dry” Policies: Alcohol C ontrols.................................................................... 64 2.3 Summary ............................................................................................................ 72 CHAPTER 3 POPULAR MOVEMENTS AND THE POLITICISATION OF ALCOHOL 74 3.1 The Discovery of and Evolution of the Concept of Addiction..................... 74 3.2 Popular movements and the politicisation of alcohol.................................. 81 3.2.1 The Canadian Temperance Movement ........................................ 81 Quebec Temperance....................................................................................... 86 3.2.2 The English Temperance Movement............................................... 87 3.2.3 The French Anti-alcohol M ovem ent............................. 93 3.2.4 The Swedish Temperance M ovem ent............................... 97 3.2.5 Temperance Movements and Social H istory................... 102 3.2.6 Anglo-American Anti-alcohol M ovement.................................... 102 3.2.7 Dutch Temperence..............................................................................106 3.3 Summary .......................................................................................................... 107 CHAPTER 4 CONSUMPTION STATISTICS .....................................................................................109 4.1 Per-capita Recorded Sales, Expressed in Litres of Absolute Alcohol.... 109 4.1.1 Registered Consumption ...................................................109 4.1.2 Unrecorded Consumption..................................................................I ll 4.1.3 Historical Consumption ....................................................................112 Canada.......................................................................................................... 112 England ........................................................................................................114 France............................................................................................................115 Sweden ................................................................................................... 116 7 4.1.4 Consumption Trends.......................................................................... 116 4.1.5 Consumption Data: Limitations....................................................... 121 4.2 Proportion of Abstainers .................................................................................. 121 4.3 Spirits vs. Other Drinking .............................................................................. 123 4.3.1 Post-war Drinking Trends..................................................................125