Rules and regulation
In all cultures, drinking is a rule-governed activity, hedged about with self-imposed norms and regulations concerning who may drink how much of what, when, how, in what contexts, with what effects, etc. - rules which are often the focus of strong emotions.
Although variations in these rules and norms reflect the characteristic values, attitudes and beliefs of different cultures, there are significant cross-cultural similarities or ‘constants’ in the unwritten rules governing alcohol use.
Analysis of cross-cultural research reveals four near-universal ‘constants’:
1. Proscription of solitary drinking
2.Prescription of sociability
3. Social control of consumption and behaviour
4. Restrictions on female and ‘underage’ drinking.
Research findings indicate that these unofficial rules, and the self-imposed protocols of drinking rituals, have more influence on both levels of consumption and drinking behaviour than ‘external’ or legal controls.
The literature to date offers no satisfactory explanation for the near-universality of restrictions on female drinking, as all researchers have attempted to explain this in purely cultural terms. We suggest that the prevalence of such restrictions may be due to non-cultural factors such as differences in male and female physiology resulting in more pronounced effects of alcohol on females.
While all contemporary cultures impose some restrictions on ‘underage’ drinking, both the definitions of ‘underage’ and the nature of the restrictions vary widely (despite increasing uniformity in official, legal controls) with more rigid restrictions in ‘ambivalent’ drinking-cultures and more permissive approaches in ‘integrated’ drinking-cultures.
Rules and regulation
In all cultures, drinking is a rule-governed activity, hedged about with self-imposed norms and regulations concerning who may drink how much of what, when, how, in what contexts, with what effects, etc. - rules which are often the focus of strong emotions.
Although variations in these rules and norms reflect the characteristic values, attitudes and beliefs of different cultures, there are significant cross-cultural similarities or ‘constants’ in the unwritten rules governing alcohol use.
Analysis of cross-cultural research reveals four near-universal ‘constants’:
1. Proscription of solitary drinking
2.Prescription of sociability
3. Social control of consumption and behaviour
4. Restrictions on female and ‘underage’ drinking.
Research findings indicate that these unofficial rules, and the self-imposed protocols of drinking rituals, have more influence on both levels of consumption and drinking behaviour than ‘external’ or legal controls.
The literature to date offers no satisfactory explanation for the near-universality of restrictions on female drinking, as all researchers have attempted to explain this in purely cultural terms. We suggest that the prevalence of such restrictions may be due to non-cultural factors such as differences in male and female physiology resulting in more pronounced effects of alcohol on females.
While all contemporary cultures impose some restrictions on ‘underage’ drinking, both the definitions of ‘underage’ and the nature of the restrictions vary widely (despite increasing uniformity in official, legal controls) with more rigid restrictions in ‘ambivalent’ drinking-cultures and more permissive approaches in ‘integrated’ drinking-cultures.
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