Glamourização do álcool nas baladas adolescentes

Abstract

Drug use is not a recent human behaviour. Since early history, there are indicators of substance use allied to therapeutic ends, recreational, spiritual and even feeding purposes, as in alcoholic drinks, for instance. An issue that lies in this route is: How drug use affects teenagers today? Which aspects – subjective, historical and socio-economic – are implied in the current adolescent drug use (specifically, in the present study, alcohol use)? Basic conjecture in this research is that alcohol is related to glamour in present society and this can be found in adolescent speech. In order to deepen this matter investigation, we bring as our main objective to verify if abusive alcohol use is related to glamour in present society under adolescent point of view. Our specific objectives were: i) Investigate what adolescents tell concerning abusive alcohol use during adolescence, pervading personal and contextual issues; ii) Verify how canonical speech found in media on alcohol use (specially on popular music and on TV ads) presentifies itself in adolescent speech. To do so, a qualitative, descriptive research was carried on, having as instrument a semi-structured interview done with two teenagers – a male and a female. Both respondents were aged eighteen and attended their last year at high school in a small town in Rio de Janeiro State. Interviews were recorded in video, integrally transcribed, and speeches were analyzed. Found data were sorted into two categories: adolescent speech on abusive alcohol use – in which the way adolescents describe relation between adolescence and alcohol was approached –; and canonic influence over adolescent speech – in which there was an attempt to approach the matter of socio-cultural influence over adolescent identity constitution. Found results confirmed initial conjecture: alcohol glamorization speech, conveyed by media, overestimation of exaggerate alcohol consumption and consequent status promoted by this behavior are present in adolescent speech. However, adolescents do not assume this speech as originated from media or cultural influence, and relate it solely to peer pressure, spotting friends and older young people influence. We came to the conclusion that speech displayed on media and hegemonic culture exercises their symbolic power over in such way that its influence is not always noticed on people’s everyday discourse and behaviour. It is suggested, thus, utterly necessary the promotion of more space to dialogue and idea exchange on the theme (since it is on speech that ruptures take place and criticism is developed), once alcohol abuse overvaluation is understood as incentive to risky behaviour, not only concerning adolescents, but also taking into consideration a global public health matter. In this instance, it is peremptory multiple social spheres mobilization towards more incisive regulation of media and its multiple agents.