Lifestyles and drug abuse: implications for prevention

The presentation is a theoretical one. It focuses on the socio-historical aspects of research on drug use and life style(s) and includes a discussion and an interpretation of the renewed interest in lifestyle studies in the context of Dick Hebdige's theory of cultural incorporation. Implications of lifestyle research of prevention of drug use and drug related problems are pointed out. The theoretical frame embraces social history, media analysis, prevention research and prevention. programme development. The scientific methods used are secondary analysis and theory. Results: Observations concerning the relationship of life style patterns and drug use are dating back to the very first examples of reports on drug taking in Europe (e.g. Theophile Gautier 1846). In recent times research on that issue, undertaken in the context of social studies, has been a domain of studies on deviant lifestyles and on the so called "subterranean values". There has been a major shift in the estimation of the importance of the issue in the 80ies when research on youth culture started to become lifestyle oriented. This renewed interest also links drug use to certain life style patterns. [] As a recent example for cultural process going on the rave culture can be used. In rave culture many different traits, values and attitudes which remained underground but were nevertheless active behind the development of youth cultures and the philosophy of leisure from the late 60ies or even the 50ies on- reached the surface and started to become mainstream value systems, attitudes and behaviours. This indicates that the new lifestyle pattern represents ant outcome of incorporation processes, which had been starting already during 70ies. [] But in the new "case" ("rave culture") drug using behaviour as one aspect of a broad behaviour pattern reflects the lifestyle orientation of a large, internationally highly visible and generally well social integrated group that only marginally is alienated from the rules of work and production prevailing in modem consumer capitalist society. Being the co-ordinator and chairperson of the working group of the European COST A6 research action, that had been concerned with the issue of the evaluation of primary prevention of drug abuse I have learned from that experience that in many European countries prevention philosophies and efforts have not well enough taken into account the process of cultural change that is continuously going on. They are sticking to models, which have been developed during the 80ies and are necessarily to than actual interpretations and control attitudes. We therefore have to think about a reorientation. It seems highly necessary that prevention workers should not avoid to be brought in contact with the ever changing lifestyles of these segments of the young population which are at risk to develop drug use-prone lifestyles and/or are highly endangered to develop a risky drug taking behaviour. (From the author' s abstract)