Maria Abrahamson’s research while affiliated with Stockholm University and other places

Aims To examine how the changes in women's relationship to alcohol during the 1960s appear in narratives of situated drinking occasions. Data Newly collected autobiographies written by women born between 1918 and 1951 are analysed using theories by William Labov on narrative construction and Kenneth Burke on the rhetoric of motives. Results The historically restrictive attitude to women at all drinking is present in the oldest women's narratives, while the liberalisation of attitudes to alcohol that took place in the 1960s likewise marks the narratives told by the younger women, even though they when writing are of pension able age. With the writers’ diminishing age, the norms framing the narratives have changed, from sobriety among the oldest women to controlled moderation among the younger. And yet, the narratives also demonstrate a stable pattern of questioning women's drinking, although the focus has shifted from tasting alcohol at all to the state of becoming intoxicated. Conclusions A controlling norm remains in place, which the women have internalised and made their own. The mitigating circumstances and the neutralising explanations that are presented throughout indicate that the women are conscious of the narratives’ deviation from the prevailing norm, and show that women take a risk in drinking alcohol. When a woman drinks she risks her femininity.

Anthology of social alcohol and drug research. Inledningen: ”Syftet med den här boken är att presentera ett urval av aktuell svensk samhällsvetenskaplig alkohol- och drogforskning. Boken behandlar i första hand alkohol, men narkotika har också en given plats i flera av texterna. Vi vill med dessa kapitel dela med oss av våra erfarenheter och hoppas att boken kan bidra till ett ökat kritiskt och reflekterande tänkande kring rusmedelsfrågan – en fråga som är alltför bred och komplex för att kunna hanteras enbart med ett piller, en lag eller en enskild riktad insats. Boken riktar sig till en bred läsekrets. Den ger högskolestuderande inom olika discipliner en god ingång till och överblick över ämnet. Boken riktar sig också till andra intressenter såsom politiker och tjänstemän, journalister, anställda inom sjukvård, socialtjänst och kriminalvård, samhällsdebattörer, föreningsaktiva på området samt den samhällsintresserade medborgaren.” (s. 9-10)

M. Abrahamson & K. Heimdahl: Gendered discourse in Swedish national alcohol policy action plans 1965-2007: Invisible men and problematic women In a critical discourse analysis of Swedish alcohol policy action plans, we have compared five different documents between 1965–2007 to examine problems with and reasons for women's and men's drinking, and recommendations for policy actions. The results display a hierarchical logic between the genders. During the early years, men's drinking is implicitly constituted as the norm. A basic tenet is that female and male drinking are the same. Women may drink less, but their drinking is not of a different character. It is highly exceptional to make a separation between men's and women's drinking. In later documents, however, the separation of these spheres results in female drinking being depicted as more problematic because of women's more vulnerable condition and individual psychological reasons. In order to highlight female drinking problems, male drinking is being erased from the picture and constructed in a positive contrast. As a consequence, men's drinking is normalised. Finally, in the most recent documents, attention has exceedingly shifted to women as containers of the foetus and to young women's and girls’ sexual behaviour and psychiatric problems.

M. Abrahamson: Old people's values and ideals in the public call for writing “Alcohol in my life” The aim was to investigate how old people – who during their lives have experienced the displacement of drinking's moral border from soberness to moderate drinking – are presenting themselves, and their values, and attitudes towards alcohol. Thirty-one answers to the autobiographical question list “Alcohol in my life” from informants born between 1914 and 1930 were scrutinized using a qualitative thematic analysis. The results displayed two different repertoires for writing about the shifting experiences of alcohol during the life course: the sober repertoire and the moderate repertoire. Within the sober repertoire alcohol was important and abstention was an organizing principle for life. Within the moderate repertoire, however, alcohol was presented as natural and unimportant. In common for both repertoires was the significance of alcohol in the context of social intercourse. In the sober repertoire it was crucial to show the sobriety in such a way that it should not bother people around. In the moderate repertoire it was crucial to take part in the social drinking without seemingly being affected by alcohol and at the same time stress the personal lack of need for alcohol. Even though both repertoires were filled with moral values of right and wrong they were characterized by an absence of moralistic judgements of others’ alcohol habits, with the exception of young people's drinking habits. Then values appeared which put forward young people's life in former times as good examples.

Aim The aim of the paper is to study how the Addiction Severity Interview (ASI) is integrated in the ordinary work of social services in two Swedish towns that use ASI regularly. According to an ideal model for using ASI, it should fulfil three functions: to be a structured tool for assessing client problems, to facilitate the follow-up of treatment measures for each client, and to form a basis for the systematic follow-up of treatment units. This paper asks specifically how ASI is used compared to this ideal ASI model, how ASI is viewed by the different hierarchical levels within the social service organisation, how the social worker's tasks are perceived, and how the use of ASI is followed up. Methods Qualitative interviews were undertaken with staff at different levels within the social service organization in the two towns, which were chosen from a county known for its extensive use of ASI. Results Although rhetorically the social workers have adopted the use of ASI, in practice, however, the use of ASI seemed rather far from ideal. The foremost advantage the social workers perceived with ASI was that it supplied basic information in an initial investigation of client needs. The problems connected to the use of ASI were that it is not suitable for all clients and that some clients are subjected to too many ASIs. Other problems were that it was hard to maintain sufficient quality in the use of ASI due to too high staff turnover and too few opportunities to conduct interviews. In spite of the well-known obstacles for efficient use of ASI, little control was undertaken to monitor use or how information from the interviews is used. Conclusions The demand on social work to meet politician's expectations for service development can be in direct conflict with the practical considerations of the social service work, which may explain the shortfall between rhetoric and practice. From a political legitimacy point of view, it is more important that the social service organization is supported by the political funding sources than to meet demands for treatment efficiency. A loose coupling between rhetoric and practice allows for ASI to be adopted only rhetorically, while the regular work can continue to meet the practical considerations. The use of ASI cannot therefore be seen as a simple solution to the problems that the Swedish treatment system is struggling with.

AlM: The aim of the paper is to study how the Addiction Severity Interview (ASI) is integrated in the ordinary work of social services in two Swedish towns that use ASI regularly. According to an ideal model for using ASI, it should fulfil three functions: to be a structured tool for assessing client problems, to facilitate the follow-up of treatment measures for each client, and to form a basis for the systematic follow-up of treatment units. This paper asks specifically how ASI is used compared to this ideal ASI model, how ASI is viewed by the different hierarchical levels within the social service organisation, how the social worker's tasks are perceived, and how the use of ASI is followed up. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with staff at different levels within the social service organization in the two towns, which were chosen from a county known for its extensive use of ASI. RESULTS: Although rhetorically the social workers have adopted the use of ASI, in practice, however, the use of ASI seemed rather far from ideal. The foremost advantage the social workers perceived with ASI was that it supplied basic information in an initial investigation of client needs. The problems connected to the use of ASI were that it is not suitable for all clients and that some clients are subjected to too many ASIs. Other problems were that it was hard to maintain sufficient quality in the use of ASI due to too high staff turnover and too few opportunities to conduct interviews. In spite of the well-known obstacles for efficient use of ASI, little control was undertaken to monitor use or how information from the interviews is used. CONCLUSIONS: The demand on social work to meet politician's expectations for service development can be in direct conflict with the practical considerations of the social service work, which may explain the shortfall between rhetoric and practice. From a political legitimacy point of view, it is more important that the social service organization is supported by the political funding sources than to meet demands for treatment efficiency. A loose coupling between rhetoric and practice allows for ASI to be adopted only rhetorically, while the regular work can continue to meet the practical considerations. The use of ASI cannot therefore be seen as a simple solution to the problems that the Swedish treatment system is struggling with.