Alcohol and drug abuse is something that undoubtedly exists in our society
today. Our interest in this area was inspired by an earlier study of the
influence of socialization on these dependencies. From this we developed new
hypotheses concerning men and women’s drug and alcohol abuse. The main purpose
of this study was to highlight the experiences and reflections of six women and
seven men on their own alcohol or drug abuse. We hoped to reach an understand
of how these men and women perceived the road to, the time during, and the way
out of their addictions.
Our research methods were qualitative and material was collected on their life
history by conducting semi-structured interviews, mostly through email. Two
interviews were carried out in a different manner; one occurred over the
telephone and another in person. Of the selected individuals, seven were men
and six were women, all of whom have had a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse
but now are alcohol and drug free.
Our exploration of the topic began with a literature study where earlier
research had showed that drug and alcohol abuse among men and women could have
different causes and forms, but that there are common factors as well between
them.
Our collected information was analysed using a narrative analysis, and the
result was consistent with Erving Goffman’s theory of stigmatisation and Robert
W. Connell’s theories on gender and gender relations.
The result was that many differences could be seen between men and women, but
that typical gender-related patterns were also seen, for example that the men
spoke more about their work and the women more about their children. When
looking at a chronological timeline of the individual’s life it was clear how
one event often caused another event, and we could see how these affected the
person.
From this we concluded that an individual’s childhood and adolescence could
contribute to a feeling of being an outsider and that through alcohol and drugs
they are able to find a community they can be accepted in and a new way to
define themselves. To summarize, the study showed that there are more
similarities than di...
