Young people's perceptions of and experiences with drugs: findings from an Irish study.

This paper presents data from Irish children on their perceptions and experiences in relation to illicit drugs as they approached adolescence. In depth interviews were conducted with 78 participants with findings suggesting that most participants had a high level of exposure to drug culture, yet had little direct experience with actually being offered or taking drugs. A small minority had used cannabis, but most expressed anti-drug attitudes. The participants' knowledge of the outcome of drug use tended to be vague or dramatic

Alcohol consumption among 11-16 year olds:"Getting around" structural barriers?

This paper presents qualitative data from Irish children and adolescents on their experiences in relation to alcohol consumption. A sample of 78 participants (average age 11.5 years) was selected. A proportion of this initial sample were interviewed at intervals over a period of 3 years. The participants’ consumption patterns were analyzed and four categories were generated: covert unsanctioned, overt unsanctioned, overt sanctioned, and peer unsanctioned. As the children got older, peer drinking became a stronger feature of the data; however, it mediated other patterns of behavior. Although the children displayed agency in circumventing adult rules relating to alcohol consumption, the participants were subjected to structural constraints by virtue of their status as children. Moreover, the agentic powers of the participants were procured through their social network rather than arising from an essentialist agency possessed by each individual child. The impact of childhood as a structural dimension weakened to some extent as the participants got older and had more freedom to circumvent adult-defined barriers to alcohol consumption.Author has checked copyrightAM

Alcohol consumption among 11-16 year olds: 'getting around' structural barriers?

This paper presents qualitative data from Irish children and adolescents on their experiences in relation to alcohol consumption. A sample of 78 participants (average age 11.5 years) was selected. A proportion of this initial sample were interviewed at intervals over a period of 3 years. The participants' consumption patterns were analyzed and four categories were generated: covert unsanctioned, overt unsanctioned, overt sanctioned, and peer unsanctioned. As the children got older, peer drinking became a stronger feature of the data; however, it mediated other patterns of behavior. Although the children displayed agency in circumventing adult rules relating to alcohol consumption, the participants were subjected to structural constraints by virtue of their status as children. Moreover, the agentic powers of the participants were procured through their social network rather than arising from an essentialist agency possessed by each individual child. The impact of childhood as a structural dimension weakened to some extent as the participants got older and had more freedom to circumvent adult-defined barriers to alcohol consumption

2000)Young people’s perceptions of and experiences with drugs: findings from an Irish study

ABSTRACT This paper presents data from Irish children on their perceptions and experiences in relation to illicit drugs as they approached adolescence. Depth interviews were conducted with.78 participants and data were analysed using a qualitative strategy whereby data were categorized into conceptual themes. Findings suggested that most participants had a high level of exposure to a drug culture, yet had little direct experiences with actually being offered or using drugs. A small minority had used cannabis and tended to frame the substance and its use in benign terms. Most children, however, expressed anti-drug attitudes. Participants' knowledge of the outcome of drug use tended to be vague or dramatic

Anxious adults vs. cool children: children's views on smoking and addiction

Tobacco addiction represents a major public health problem, and most addicted smokers take up the habit during adolescence. We need to know why. With the aim of gaining a better understanding of the meanings smoking and tobacco addiction hold for young people, 85 focused interviews were conducted with adolescent children from economically deprived areas of Northern Ireland. Through adopting a qualitative approach within the community rather than the school context, the adolescent children were given the opportunity to freely express their views in confidence. Children seem to differentiate conceptually between child smoking and adult smoking. Whereas adults smoke to cope with life and are thus perceived by children as lacking control over their consumption, child smoking is motivated by attempts to achieve the status of cool and hard, and to gain group membership. Adults have personal reasons for smoking, while child smoking is profoundly social. Adults are perceived as dependent on nicotine, and addiction is at the core of the children's understanding of adult smoking. Child smoking, on the other hand, is seen as oriented around social relations so that addiction is less relevant. These ideas leave young people vulnerable to nicotine addiction. It is clearly important that health promotion efforts seek to understand and take into account the actions of children within the context of their own world-view to secure their health.Childhood smoking Nicotine addiction Health promotion Northern Ireland

Política criminal y abolicionismo, hacia una cultura restaurativa

Este libro es el producto de las investigaciones realizadas durante el año 2017 que fueron presentadas en el Congreso internacional: “Perspectivas críticas de la política criminal y el abolicionismo”, donde se generaron reflexiones sobre la cultura del castigo y se plantearon las distintas alternativas abolicionistas. La publicación está dividida en dos partes, la primera parte del libro se denomina “De la cultura de castigo a una cultura restaurativa”, la cual contiene cinco capítulos que abordan desde una perspectiva crítica el punitivismo de la política criminal y el uso excesivo de la sanción privativa de la libertad. De igual forma explora la justicia transicional y la justicia restaurativa como posibles alternativas a la política criminal retributiva y una forma de promover la reconstrucción de los lazos sociales rotos. La segunda parte del libro titulada, “Los efectos de la política criminal punitivista en la población vulnerable”, contiene ocho capítulos que analizan la exclusión, el estigma y la marginalización que sufren mujeres, grupos indígenas, adultos mayores privados de la libertad y cuando cumplen su pena y recuperan la libertad, por lo cual surge la necesidad de generar transformaciones donde se transite hacia escenarios de reconciliación, la desnaturalización del punitivismo y el reconocimiento de la dignidad humana