Sociological approaches

To afford alcohol and drugs from a sociological perspective means to position the relationship between individuals and different psychoactive substances in the context of social and cultural conditions that characterize this relationship. The chapter opens with a brief description of the role played by quantitative social research in the portrayal of trends in alcohol and drugs consumption, misuse and addiction with particular attention to the peculiarity of persons involved and of the role of qualitative social research to depict the different meanings that people and social groups give to consumption practices, including functions and motives (e.g., nourishing, recreational, socializing, ritual, pharmacological, intoxicant, …). Furthermore it is noted as the sociological perspective analyses the different considerations and representations of relationship between individuals and substances in different periods, societies and cultures. So that, the results of the “social construction” processes are the different qualifications of each substance consumption and/or abuse as legal or illegal, encouraged, restricted, regulated or prohibited behaviours. Subsequently the chapter critically examines the key sociological theories and concepts relating to drug and alcohol use, misuse and addiction in order to understand how they can affect policies and practices. Most of sociological theories of legal and illegal substance use, misuse and addiction come from theories originally developed to explain deviant behaviour like crime and delinquency, while others explain use and problems from a cultural and anthropological point of view. More recently consumers’ theories and pleasure related concepts have added significant contribution in providing sociological explanation to the topic. Although adopting different starting questions, all of these theories focus on the role of the social environment on the alcohol and drug consumer career. Consequently the chapter considers theories that: - focus attention on the social structure to explain alcohol and drug use, misuse and addiction and the forces that have acted on the user influencing his behaviour as family context and socio-economical background: social structures theories; - analyse the process through which individual behaviour is learned and the personal identity is taken on: social process theories; - explain the society response to alcohol and drug use, misuse and addiction and their consequences on consumption “careers”: societal reaction theories; - consider human behaviours as the result of the decisions of the individuals and the subjective meanings that people attributed to their actions as they go through a rational choice process when using psychoactive substances: rational choice theory; - consider drug and alcohol use and abuse as normalized behaviour mainly among adolescents and young people who accept it as normal part of their lives: normalization theory. Finally, the impacts of the different sociological perspectives on alcohol and drugs policies will be considered looking at the main regulation models (prohibitionism, regulation, legalization) and at the main policies aims (supply or demand control, harm reduction, consumers control, punishment or treatment) and the different responses patterns.