The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Chapter 3: Alcohol, stigma and social responsibility

Chapter aims

This chapter addresses the following key questions:

• How socially accepted are different types of drinking in Scotland?
• Do non-drinkers attract stigma from other people in Scotland?
• Do people think there should be restrictions on drinking in public places?

Introduction

Chapter Two of this report focused on understanding overarching attitudes towards Scotland's 'drinking culture' and found high levels of agreement across different social groups that drinking is both a problem for Scotland and something that is a central part of a 'Scottish way of life'. This Chapter attempts to disentangle attitudes towards different types of drinking, focusing in particular on differences in attitudes towards 'binge drinking' (drinking large quantities of alcohol at one time) and 'chronic drinking' (regular heavy consumption of alcohol). It examines the extent to which these types of drinking are viewed as socially acceptable or attract stigma and disapproval from different groups in Scottish society. The findings provide a greater understanding of the different 'drinking cultures' within Scotland and can be used to help inform specific campaigns targeting different groups of drinkers and different types of problem drinking.

Views on 'getting drunk'

The self-completion section of SSA 2004 included two statements designed to test attitudes towards heavy drinking. Respondents were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed that:

Getting drunk is a perfectly acceptable thing to do at weekends

and

There's nothing wrong with people my age getting drunk regularly.

Both statements can be taken as describing 'binge drinking', given the references to 'getting drunk'. The reference to 'getting drunk regularly' in the second statement might be interpreted as suggesting more frequent heavy drinking than the first statement, although people may interpret what is meant by 'regularly' in different ways (daily, several times a week, weekly, etc.)

Figure 3.1 shows that respondents expressed fairly high levels of disapproval of getting drunk in both these contexts - 52% disagree or disagree strongly that getting drunk at the weekends is perfectly acceptable, and 66% disagree or disagree strongly that 'there's nothing wrong with people my age getting drunk regularly'. However, people were somewhat more likely to agree that getting drunk at the weekends is acceptable than they were to agree that there is nothing wrong with people their age getting drunk regularly. Moreover, they were much more likely to disagree with the latter statement. This suggests that binge drinking at weekends attracts less stigma overall than getting drunk 'regularly'.

Figure 3.1 Agreement with statements about getting drunk

Base: 1,514

While these findings suggest that 'getting drunk' attracts more stigma than acceptance across Scottish society as a whole, there are big differences in attitudes to getting drunk between different age groups. Figure 3.2 shows that while overall just 18% of respondents agreed that getting drunk at the weekends is acceptable, this figure rises to 57% among 18-24 year olds. Similarly, 35% of 18-24 year-olds agree that there is nothing wrong with people their age getting drunk regularly, compared with just 4% of respondents aged 65 or older. Younger people, it appears, are much more accepting of 'getting drunk' in general, and of binge drinking at the weekends in particular.

At present, it is not possible to determine whether such views are especially characteristic of the current generation of young people, or whether similar views would have been found among the same age group ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. It will be possible to track whether the attitudes found among the current cohort of 18-24 year-olds are retained as they get older through future sweeps of the SSA.

Figure 3.2 Agreement with statements about getting drunk by age

Bases: 18-24 = 117, 25-39 = 372, 40-64 = 661, 65+ = 364, All = 1,514

Attitudes towards getting drunk also differ between the sexes. Men are more likely than women to agree that getting drunk at the weekend is perfectly acceptable (23% compared with 14% of women) and that there is nothing wrong with people their age getting drunk regularly (14% of compared with 9% of women).

Logistic regression was carried out to test whether there are any other factors associated with attitudes towards getting drunk. The regression tested the relative strength of association between attitudes to getting drunk at weekends and age, gender, income, class, education, presence of children in the household and rurality. Once other variables were controlled for, the only factors that appeared to be significantly associated with agreement that getting drunk at the weekends is acceptable were in fact age and gender. Of these, age had by far the strongest association with respondents' attitudes.

Differences in attitudes towards chronic and binge drinkers

The findings above give some indication of differences in attitudes towards binge drinking and 'regular' heavy drinking, although as discussed 'getting drunk regularly' may be interpreted in different ways. In order to examine differences in attitudes towards binge drinking and chronic drinking more directly, the survey introduced descriptions of two hypothetical drinkers. These are shown in full below. The first was intended to describe a chronic drinker, while the second describes a binge drinker. Half of respondents were read descriptions of female chronic and binge drinkers, while half were read descriptions of male chronic and binge drinkers in order to assess whether there are differences in attitudes towards men and women drinking. In fact, attitudes towards the male and female drinkers were very similar in both cases.

Respondents were asked the same series of questions about the chronic drinker and the binge drinker:

First, how serious a problem would you consider (name)'s drinking to be, or do you not think it's a problem?

How likely is it that (name)'s current drinking behaviour will seriously damage (his/her) health in the long term?

How much do you agree or disagree that (name) should feel embarrassed about (his/her) drinking?

Suppose you knew someone like (name) who wanted help. Who would you advise them to turn to first for help?

Responses to each of these revealed significant differences in attitudes towards chronic and binge drinking. First, while the vast majority (92%) of respondents think that the chronic drinker has a very serious problem, just 36% think this about the binge drinker (Figure 3.3). Second, while 58% of respondents agree that the chronic drinker should feel embarrassed about their drinking, this rises to 68% in relation to the binge drinker (Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.3 Views on how serious a problem chronic and binge drinker have

Base: 1,637

Figure 3.4 Agreement that chronic/binge drinker should be embarrassed about their drinking

Base: 1,637

It is possible that both these findings relate to an underlying tendency to view chronic drinking within a 'medical model' of alcoholism. This would suggest that chronic drinking is an illness over which the drinker may have limited control. Binge drinking, on the other hand, may be viewed as more of a 'social' problem, which is not as serious in medical terms and which the drinker could take control over if they chose to. The binge drinker should, therefore, feel more embarrassed than the chronic drinker since they are presumed to have more control over their behaviour. This hypothesis is discussed further in Chapter Four, which discusses findings from the questions, above, on the health impacts of chronic and binge drinking and the sources of help people would advise the two drinkers to use.

Logistic regression was carried out to identify the characteristics most strongly associated with thinking that the hypothetical binge drinker has a serious problem and with thinking they should be embarrassed about their drinking. Again, by far the most significant factor associated with a more 'permissive' attitude towards binge drinking is age. Fifty-eight per cent of 18-24 year-olds think that the binge drinker has a very or fairly serious problem, compared with 74% of 25-39 year-olds and 88% of 40-64 year-olds (Figure 3.5). Young people are also less likely to agree that the binge drinker should feel embarrassed - 34% of 18-24 year-olds disagreed with this statement, compared with 21% of 25-39 year-olds, 11% of 40-64 year-olds and just 6% of those aged 65 or older.

Figure 3.5 Binge drinker has very/fairly serious problem by age

Bases: 18-24 = 125, 25-39 = 399, 40-64 = 705, 65+ = 408, All = 1,637

How seriously binge drinking is viewed (but not how embarrassed the drinker should be) also varies by gender. Women (40%) were more likely than men (31%) to think that the binge drinker had a very serious problem. ²⁰

Living near someone with a drink problem

A further indication of the level of stigma attached to chronic drinking is provided by responses to a question about how comfortable people would feel if the chronic drinker described above lived next door to them. The majority of respondents (71%) said they would feel very or fairly uncomfortable with this situation. Women were slightly more likely than men to say they would be very uncomfortable with this situation (29% compared with 23%), as were people in the oldest age group (36% of those aged 65 and older said they would be 'very uncomfortable', compared with 22% of 18-24 year-olds).

Are problem drinkers seen as responsible for their own situation?

The self-completion section of the SSA asked respondents how strongly they agreed or disagreed that 'Most people with serious drinking problems have only themselves to blame'. The extent to which people with problem drinking are viewed as 'morally responsible' for their own situation provides an indication of the extent to which problem drinkers are stigmatised by Scottish society. Figure 3.6 shows that people are divided in their opinions as to whether problem drinkers can be blamed for their situation. While a third (34%) agree or strongly agree that most people drink problems have only themselves to blame, a slightly higher proportion disagree (40%).

Attitudes towards the 'moral responsibility' of drinkers for their situation vary with age, gender and education. People aged 65 and over were more likely than younger people to agree with this statement (56%, compared with 29% of 18-24 year-olds), while women were somewhat less likely to agree than men (31% compared with 39%). Respondents with higher educational qualifications were also less likely to agree with this statement - 24% of those with a degree agreed that people with drink problems have only themselves to blame, compared with 54% of those with no qualifications.

Figure 3.6 'Most people with serious drinking problems have only themselves to blame'

Base = 1,637

Attitudes towards non-drinkers

In addition to examining the social acceptability of drinking large volumes of alcohol, the SSA also explored the extent to which choosing not to drink alcohol is accepted in Scotland. Current drinkers were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that:

A lot of people I know would think it odd if I didn't drink alcohol at all,

while respondents who were tee-total were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed that:

A lot of people I know think it odd that I don't drink at all.

Figure 3.7 shows that 42% of tee-totallers feel other people view their not drinking as odd, while 34% of current drinkers think people would view it as odd if they stopped drinking altogether. This suggests that there is some stigma (or at least a perception of stigma) attached to the decision not to drink in Scotland.

Figure 3.7 Views on whether not drinking is/would be viewed as odd (% of tee-totallers and current drinkers)

Bases: Current drinkers = 1,475, Tee-totallers = 162

Again, young people are particularly likely to feel that if they did not drink this would be regarded as odd by other people. Fifty-five per cent of 18-24 year-olds who drink at the moment agreed that a lot of people would find it odd if they did not drink, compared with 38% of 25-39 year-olds, 33% of 40-64 year-olds and 26% of those aged 65 and older.

Attitudes towards drinking in public places

Table 3.1 shows respondents views on whether adults should be allowed to drink alcohol in various public places. The majority of respondents appear to believe that drinking in public should be restricted - over half think that drinking definitely should not be allowed in public parks, football matches, in the street or on trains, while over three quarters think it should either probably or definitely not be allowed in these places. These findings suggest there would be majority support in Scotland for action to restrict the consumption of alcohol in public spaces, particularly at football matches and in the street.

Table 3.1 Views on which drinking in public places

Key points from this chapter

• While 'getting drunk' and binge drinking attract more stigma than acceptance among the population as a whole, there are large differences in attitudes between older and younger people.
• 18-24 year-olds are much more likely than those in other age-groups to agree that there is nothing wrong with getting drunk at the weekend. They are much less likely to think a (hypothetical) binge drinker has a serious problem or that they should feel embarrassed about their drinking.
• Men tend to hold a more 'permissive' attitude than women towards getting drunk and binge drinking.
• People in Scotland are divided over whether problem drinkers can be held 'morally responsible' for their own situation. While 34% agree or strongly agree that people with drinking problems have only themselves to blame, 40% disagree.
• A third of drinkers and two-fifths of non-drinkers agree that their not drinking is, or would be, viewed as odd by a lot of people. This suggests that there is some stigma (or a perception of stigma) attached to the decision not to drink in Scotland. Again, younger people are particularly likely to agree that this is the case.
• The majority of people in Scotland think that drinking should probably or definitely not be allowed in public places including public parks, football matches, in the street and on trains.

« Previous | Contents | Next »