Citation

Pennay A, MacLean S, Rankin G. Int. J. Drug Policy 2016; 28: 67-75.

Affiliation

Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3083, Australia. Electronic address: g.rankin@latrobe.edu.au.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.10.008

PMID

26619752

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hello Sunday Morning (HSM) is an online program that encourages people to commit to a period of non-drinking and blog about their experiences. The purpose of this paper is to explore how HSM members negotiated their periods of abstention, with a focus on how not drinking influenced their narratives of selfhood.

METHODS: Thematic analysis was undertaken of 2844 blog posts from 154 Victorians who signed up to HSM in 2013 or 2014.

RESULTS: Analysis revealed three key narratives of selfhood offered by participants: (1) abstinence resulting in a disrupted sense of self, (2) non-consumption facilitating the development of a new healthy self, and (3) anti-consumption facilitating the development of a resistant self.

CONCLUSION: Individuals construct and maintain their sense of self through consumption (or non-consumption) activities, and this occurs within the broader context of the relationship between selfhood, consumption and culture. HSM members developed narratives of self by drawing on a range of wider discursive structures concerning pleasure, healthism and resistance. The typologies of non-drinking selves identified in this paper could be disseminated through platforms such as HSM to support people who are new to non-drinking in choosing how they might construct and enact alternative selfhoods in contexts where alcohol consumption is deeply embedded.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en