The drinking culture within the college life has been a recognized problem for long. Despite this, students still witness a continuing of the perceived peer pressure to consume alcohol. Since the college years are an important part of the life that youths look forward to at an early age it is often difficult to go against the norm they find at each university. This research aims to examine the effect that the social student culture has on the alcoholic consumption of young students. Young students find themselves in a precarious situation on the issue of alcohol use when they start their studies at a university-level. Earlier research indicates that young adults are in a danger zone regarding the use of alcoholic-beverages and this also applies to students. Thus putting young students in a particularly risky zone in this issue. Based on the research we have studied and the theoretical framework that we felt were most suitable for our research we will try to gain a deeper understanding of the choices that the students are making and the reasoning behind these decisions. We used a qualitative method to approach our issues and semi- structured interviews in the interviews that we did with four students from two different universities. Our results and thus the conclusion of the thesis is that the decisions that students make to a large extent is influenced by the social student culture and the view on alcohol that the students perceive that the universities are sending out. The lack of a stance by the university against alcohol legitimizes the current drinking culture that is prevailing in the college life and amplifies the image of the alcohol-centric student culture.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the existence of misperceptions regarding the peer‐drinking norm among undergraduate students at Stellenbosch University and the role of these misperceptions in explaining students’ drinking behaviour. A more permissive perception of the drinking norm has been associated with heavier alcohol consumption and negative consequences for oneself, others and property. Perceptions of the academic norm and its relation to personal academic and drinking behaviour are also investigated. Furthermore, the study examines the role of perceptions of the drinking norm in personal drinking behaviour in the context of other cognitive factors (perceptions), experiences prior to enrolling at university, as well as socio‐demographic and contextual factors. The theoretical framework used to understand the origin, occurrence and perpetuation of misperceptions regarding the social norm includes Bourdieu’s theory of habitus, social norms theory, social learning theory and attribution theory. Data were collected from 640 students out of a random sample of 3 177 who had been invited to participate in a web‐based survey during September 2009. In addition, 18 personal semi‐structured interviews were conducted with students.   Similar to findings of research in other countries, the results of this research show that students at Stellenbosch University tend to perceive other students’ drinking behaviour (descriptive norm) and approval of drinking behaviour (injunctive norm) as more permissive than their own. The degree of misperception increases as the social distance of reference groups increases and is also significantly related to personal alcohol consumption. There is also evidence of misperceptions regarding the academic norm and its association with personal drinking behaviour and academic behaviour. Multiple regression analysis reveals that the perceived drinking norm of close friends is the best predictor of personal drinking behaviour, followed by personal approval of drinking and drinking behaviour during the last year of high school. The data presented here for Stellenbosch University students extend the evidence that peer drinking norms are misperceived and highlights the importance of a student’s experiences before enrolling at university. Furthermore, it provides evidence that misperceiving the drinking norm is a pervasive problem that may have behavioural consequences. Various American higher education institutions have developed and implemented campaigns aimed at correcting these misperceptions. This has resulted in significant reductions in misperceptions as well as in heavy drinking among students. Students at Stellenbosch University and elsewhere might also benefit from these types of intervention strategies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die bestaan van wanpersepsies aangaande die portuurgroep‐drinknorm onder voorgraadse studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch en die rol daarvan in die verduideliking van studente se drinkgedrag. ’n Meer liberale persepsie van die drinknorm hou verband met swaarder alkoholgebruik en meer negatiewe gevolge vir die persoon self, ander en eiendom. Die studie ondersoek ook persepsies van die akademiese norm en die verband daarvan met persoonlike akademiese en drinkgedrag. Verder word die rol van persepsies van die drinknorm in persoonlike alkoholgebruik in die konteks van ander bewussynsfaktore (persepsies), ervarings voor inskrywing by die universiteit, asook sosiaal‐demografiese en kontekstuele faktore ondersoek. Die studie maak gebruik van die teoretiese raamwerke van Bourdieu se habitus, sosiale norm‐teorie, sosiale leer‐teorie en attributasieteorie om die oorsprong, aanwesigheid en voortsetting van wanpersepsies te verstaan. Data is versamel onder 640 studente uit ’n ewekansige steekproef van 3 177 studente wat uitgenooi was om gedurende September 2009 aan ’n webgebaseerde opname deel te neem. Daar is ook 18 in‐diepte semi‐gestruktureerde onderhoude met studente gevoer.   Soortgelyk aan bevindinge van navorsing in ander lande, toon resultate van hierdie navorsing dat studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch geneig is om ander studente se drinkgedrag (beskrywende norm) en goedkeuring van alkoholverbruik (injunktiewe norm) as meer liberaal as hulle eie waar te neem. Die graad van wanpersepsie neem toe namate die sosiale afstand van verwysingsgroepe toeneem en hou ook betekenisvol verband met persoonlike alkoholgebruik. Daar is ook bewyse van wanpersepsies aangaande die akademiese norm en die verband daarvan met persoonlike drink‐  en akademiese gedrag. Resultate van ’n meervoudige regressie‐ontleding wys dat die waargenome drinknorm van goeie vriende die beste voorspeller van persoonlike drinkgedrag is, gevolg deur persoonlike goedkeuring van alkoholgebruik en drinkgedrag gedurende die laaste jaar van hoërskool. Die data van Stellenbosse studente lewer verder bewys dat portuurgroep‐drinknorme verkeerdelik waargeneem word en beklemtoon die belangrikheid van studente se vorige ervarings. Dit bewys ook dat die verkeerde waarneming van die drinknorm ’n konstante probleem is wat gedragsgevolge kan hê. Verskeie Amerikaanse universiteite het al veldtogte ontwikkel en geïmplementeer gemik op die regstel van dié wanpersepsies, en dit het wanpersepsies en swaar drankgebruik onder studente betekenisvol verminder. Studente aan Universiteit Stellenbosch en elders sal waarskynlik ook by soortgelyke intervensiestrategieë baat vind. / jfl2011 / Imported from http://etd.sun.ac.za

Many research studies have identified high drinking rates amongst US student-athletes, yet there has been limited exploration into the social value of alcohol practices within this context. Drawing on Bandura's Social Learning Theory framework (1977) and the work of Palmer (2011), this study sought to explore student-athlete drinking practices and the social value of said practices to better understand why high drinking rates may occur. The participants were 65 student-athletes enrolled at Mason University, a NCAA Division I University located on the west coast. The study employed mixed methods, which combined quantitative (online questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) tools. Findings revealed that (a) student-athletes remain at high risk of heavy drinking practices; (b) the social value of alcohol was demonstrated, specifically in its use as a socialization tool; and (c) drinking practices were influenced by varied team drinking cultures, which may have significant effects on team cohesion. Implications from this investigation speak to the necessity of more team specific interventions and gives recommendations for future research investigating the social value of alcohol in team drinking cultures.

Cette thèse de doctorat a pour objectif de développer une typologie socioculturelle de la consommation d’alcool à partir des mesures d’usages, de contextes et de motivations à boire pour approfondir notre connaissance sur les pratiques collectives de boire au Canada et d’explorer la variabilité des pratiques selon les caractérisations sociodémographiques et socioéconomiques des buveurs . Partant du constat des limites conceptuelles des modèles typologiques développés en alcoologie qui ne permettent pas d’observer toute la complexité des pratiques du boire dans une société puisqu’ils sont construits principalement à partir de l’usage, cette thèse propose de conceptualiser les pratiques de boire comme l’interface de l’usage, des contextes de consommation et des motivations à consommer. Les données utilisées proviennent de l’enquête GENder, Alcohol, and Culture: an international study – Canada. Uniquement les buveurs réguliers (consommant au moins une fois par mois) ont été retenus dans le cadre de cette thèse. Des analyses de correspondances et des analyses de classes latentes ont permis de dériver des typologies tridimensionnelles des pratiques de boire et de les associer à des caractéristiques sociales. Les résultats de recherche sont présentés en trois articles scientifiques qui répondent chacun à un objectif spécifique de la thèse. Le premier article présente une classification des buveurs réguliers canadiens en six grands types et établit le lien entre ces types et le genre ainsi que le groupe d’âge. Le deuxième article teste l’invariance de la typologie selon le genre et propose des classifications distinctes pour les femmes et pour les hommes en lien avec le groupe d’âge et le niveau d’éducation. Le troisième article se concentre sur les buveurs réguliers en emploi et examine l’association entre la position socioprofessionnelle dans la hiérarchie sociale et les pratiques de boire. / This doctoral thesis aims to develop a socio-cultural typology of alcohol consumption through measures of use, contexts and motivations to drink in order to explore and deepen our knowledge about collective practice of drinking in Canada, and to explore the variability of practices along demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of drinkers . The general hypothesis of the thesis stipulates that existing typologies in alcohol research do not allow for the exploration of all the complexities of drinking practices within a society because they are based primarily on alcohol consumption. We believe that adding contextual and motivational dimensions to the dimension of use allows for improving the observation and description of collective practices of drinking, which are associated with it. Quantitative data from the GENACIS, GENder, Alcohol, and Culture: an international study – Canada project helped to validate the main research hypothesis. Only regular drinkers (consuming at least once a month) were selected as part of this thesis. Multiple correspondence analysis and latent class analysis permitted to derive three typologies of drinking practices, associated to social features. The results of the research are presented in three scientific articles, each of which responds to a specific objective of the thesis. The first article presents a classification of Canadian drinkers in six major types and establishes the link between these types, age and gender. The second article tests the invariance of the typology according to gender and proposes separate classifications for women and men in relation to age group and level of education. The third section focuses on regular drinkers’ employment and examines the association between professional position in the social hierarchy and practice of drinking.