Festive rituals
-Alcohol is universally associated with celebration, and drinking is, in all cultures, an essential element of festivity.
-In societies with an ambivalent, morally charged relationship with alcohol (such as the UK, US, Scandinavia, Australia), ‘celebration’ is used as an excuse for drinking. In societies in which alcohol is a morally neutral element of normal life (such as Italy, Spain and France), alcohol is strongly associated with celebration, but celebration is not invoked as a justification for every drinking occasion.
-In cultures with a tradition of casual, everyday drinking in addition to celebratory drinking, any shifts towards the more episodic celebratory drinking of ‘ambivalent’ cultures should be viewed with concern, as these patterns are associated with higher levels of alcohol-related problems.