This thesis is an analysis of a curriculum development process used to train youth workers to raise and respond to alcohol issues. Within an interpretivist framework, a seven-stage model of curriculum planning was developed. Stage 1 involved examination of the literature on youth work and alcohol and youth work training, an empirical needs assessment study (via a national survey and in-depth consultation in one youth service) and examination of the results in relation to the literature on young people and alcohol. Stage 2 used the stage 1 data to define the rationale, which in turn informed stages 3-5, formulation of aims and learning outcomes, learning activities and teaching resources. Stage 6, delivery, involved pilot courses in in- service and initial-training contexts. Illuminative evaluation was used to assess the training process (Stage 7) and its impact on youth worker practice. The staged model was found to be a practical curriculum development framework, particularly combined with an action-research approach. The study confirmed the importance of thorough training needs assessment, including the needs of service users. Youth workers were found to typically adopt a reactive approach to alcohol issues, which focused on individual young drinkers rather than structural determinants of alcohol-related harm. The pilot courses were successful in stimulating planned alcohol education initiatives. Features of training that enabled youth workers to tackle alcohol issues included: a clear rationale based on youth work principles, harm-reduction goals, understanding the place and meaning of alcohol in young people's lives, a practice focus and managerial support. The study discusses the implications of the findings for youth work training and informal education practice and suggests a strategy for fixture development of the alcohol training materials.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to elucidate different aspects of Swedish adolescents’ use of alcohol and drugs and how society deals with problems related to their use. The subject has been analyzed in four studies. The first study was based on focus-group interviews with adolescents and aimed at elucidating the meaning of alcohol and intoxication for adolescents. The participants’ discussions contained two levels - one superficial (an ideal presentation of themselves) and one deep (which mediated cultural ideas of how to think and act). This is interpreted as a way to express the maturity process they are going through, at the same time as it symbolizes difficulties to unite external norms and values with their own need for devotion. The second study was based on project applications, evaluations and economy accounts for preventive work from 150 projects conducted by non-profit organizations. The results show that type of organizations and the methods used were based on tradition rather than on efficiency. These results are discussed in relation to growing demands for evidence based practice in the field of prevention. The third and the fourth study are based on the ADAD-interview (Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis). In the third study, comparisons of different judgements concerning the extent of drug abuse among adolescents in institutional care, were made and results show large differences between the different judgements, concerning both occurrence and extent of abuse. In the fourth study, the significance of ADAD was discussed in relation to matching drug abusing adolescents to treatment institutions. The results show that only a limited number of institutions specializes on drug abusing adolescents and that a majority of the adolescents institutionalized for drug problems never visit an institution specialized on drug abuse treatment.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to elucidate different aspects of Swedish adolescents’ use of alcohol and drugs and how society deals with problems related to their use. The subject has been analyzed in four studies. The first study was based on focus-group interviews with adolescents and aimed at elucidating the meaning of alcohol and intoxication for adolescents. The participants’ discussions contained two levels - one superficial (an ideal presentation of themselves) and one deep (which mediated cultural ideas of how to think and act). This is interpreted as a way to express the maturity process they are going through, at the same time as it symbolizes difficulties to unite external norms and values with their own need for devotion. The second study was based on project applications, evaluations and economy accounts for preventive work from 150 projects conducted by non-profit organizations. The results show that type of organizations and the methods used were based on tradition rather than on efficiency. These results are discussed in relation to growing demands for evidence based practice in the field of prevention. The third and the fourth study are based on the ADAD-interview (Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis). In the third study, comparisons of different judgements concerning the extent of drug abuse among adolescents in institutional care, were made and results show large differences between the different judgements, concerning both occurrence and extent of abuse. In the fourth study, the significance of ADAD was discussed in relation to matching drug abusing adolescents to treatment institutions. The results show that only a limited number of institutions specializes on drug abusing adolescents and that a majority of the adolescents institutionalized for drug problems never visit an institution specialized on drug abuse treatment.

The thesis investigates the theoretical knowledge about the issue of addictive substances and personal experience with their use for pupils 6. and 8. classes of primary school and for students 2. and 4. year of the grammar school. In the first part of my work, I focused on the definition of basic concepts, the outline of the characters and the possible causes that lead to addiction to drugs, I presented the most commonly used drugs and identified the possibilities of drug prevention. The second part is devoted to a survey in the form of a questionnaire, which directly examines the knowledge and experience with the drug specific age groups of pupils and students. This work could be material for teachers who want to participate in the drug prevention.