Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Middle age and elderly persons with long-term drinking problems and their understandings of their drinking
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work.
2016 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Introduction: The focus is on how women and men between 56 – 69 years of age with ongoing long-term drinking problems make sense of their drinking. The interviewee´s understandings can be seen as their personal lay theory of problematic drinking.

Methods: The paper is based on interviews with a narrative approach with 19 women and men. The interviewees were clients at the Social Services, the drinking fulfilled the ICD 10 criteria´s for alcohol dependence syndrome and the alcohol problems had lasted between 20 – 40 years. The analysis have been inspired by thematical narrative methods.

Results: The results are divided into three themes. The first theme is the meaning of drinking where the interviewees describe drinking as a conscious act for handling themselves and their everyday life. In the second theme drinking is explained as a result of circumstances beyond personal control. The third theme is called the incomprehensible drinking there drinking is portrayed as unpredictable with no connections to meaning, motives or circumstances.

Conclusion: The interviewee’s life courses are of great importance for how they experience present life. Ageing with long-term alcohol problems means that the interviewees deal with probed bodies, feelings of meaningless, severe withdrawal symptoms, strained economy and lack of supportive social networks. These aspects of everyday life are together with the identity of an “alcoholic” and learned “expert knowledge” about powerlessness over alcohol presented as explanations indicating what needs to be supported to encourage reduced drinking or abstinence.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016.
Keywords [en]
long-term drinking problems, meaning, life course
National Category
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-133564OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-133564DiVA, id: diva2:1088100
Conference
KBS 2016 - 42nd Annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society in Stockholm May 30- June 3, 2016.
Available from: 2017-04-11 Created: 2017-04-11 Last updated: 2018-06-09Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Authority records

Bergström, Magdalena

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Bergström, Magdalena
By organisation
Department of Social Work
Social Work

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 215 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf