Sexy substances and the substance of sex: Findings from an ethnographic study in Ibiza, Spain

Purpose This article offers an ethnographic account of substances and sex, and how they are interrelated, in the context of one holiday destination popular among British youth. We write this paper because current research on British youth abroad and their use of substances is based almost exclusively on survey methods. Similarly, the same research works do not explore in sufficient detail sexual relations outside those between British tourists. Design/Methodology We base this article on 38 focus groups, observations and informal conversations undertaken in San Antonio, Ibiza over the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. Findings Here we complement current knowledge on sex and substances abroad by discussing the role of Promotion Representatives (PRs), strippers and prostitutes and the use of both drugs and alcohol, emphasising how substances feature in the promotion of sex. We adopt Bakhtin’s concept of the ‘carnivalesque’ (1984) to understand these behaviours. Originality/Value As far as we can see, current research is almost exclusively based on sex between tourists and sexual encounters with other social players in holiday resorts has been largely neglected

Work hard, party harder:drug use and sexual behaviour in young British casual workers in Ibiza, Spain

Background: Every summer, young people flock to nightlife-focused holiday resorts around the world to find casual work. Despite being exposed to hedonistic environments, often for several months, little is known about their substance use, sexual activity and health service needs over this extended amount of time abroad. Methods: A short anonymous questionnaire examining alcohol and drug use, sexual behaviour and use of health services was administered to young British casual workers aged 16–35 in San Antonio, Ibiza (n = 171). Results: 97.7% of casual workers used alcohol in Ibiza, and the majority (85.3%) used drugs. Almost half (43.5%) of all participants used a drug in Ibiza that they had never used in the UK. Most casual workers arrived in Ibiza without a partner or spouse (86.5%). Of these, 86.9% had sex during their stay and 50.0% had unprotected sex; often while under the influence of alcohol. Only 14.3% of those having unprotected sex with a new partner sought a sexual health check-up in Ibiza, although 84.1% intended to do this on their return to the UK. Conclusion: Substance use and sexual risk taking is widespread among young British casual workers in Ibiza. Such international nightlife resorts represent key settings for substance-related health and social problems, and for the international spread of sexually transmitted infections. Addressing the health needs of casual workers and the environments that permit and promote their excessive behaviour requires collaboration between authorities in home and destination countries and the tourism industry

Party package travel: alcohol use and related problems in a holiday resort: a mixed methods study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>People travelling abroad tend to increase their use of alcohol and other drugs. In the present study we describe organized party activities in connection with young tourists' drinking, and the differences between young people travelling with and without organized party activities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted ethnographic observations and a cross-sectional survey in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The behaviour of the guides from two travel agencies strongly promoted heavy drinking, but discouraged illicit drug use. Even after controlling for several potential confounders, young people who travelled with such "party package travel agencies" were more likely to drink 12 or more units when going out. In univariate analyses, they were also more likely to get into fights, but were not more likely to seek medical assistance or medical assistance for an accident or an alcohol-related problem. After controlling for confounders, the association between type of travel agency and getting into fights was no longer significant. Short-term consequences of drinking in the holiday resort did not differ between party package travellers and ordinary package travellers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There may be a small impact of party package travels on young people's drinking. Strategies could be developed used to minimise the harm associated with both party package travel and other kinds of travel where heavy substance use is likely to occur.</p

The street-jihadi spectrum: Marginality, radicalization and resistance to extremism

For over a decade, jihadi terrorism in Europe, and the recruitment of Europeans to fight for ISIS in Syria, have increasingly involved marginalized youths from a social context of street culture, illegal drug use and crime. Existing theoretical models of the crime-terrorism nexus and radicalization arguably do not sufficiently explain the fluid and dynamic ways by which the street cultural come to be politico-religiously violent. This paper provides a novel retheorization, the street-jihadi spectrum, which is better placed to explain a wide range of behaviours, from the merely stylistic to the spectacularly violent. On the street culture end it includes subcultural play with provocative jihadi symbols and on the jihadi end the terrorism of ‘gangster-jihadists’. We emphasize that the spectrum, consisting of a multitude of confluences of street and jihadi cultures, also includes resistance to jihadism

“That's cool, you’re a musician and you drink”: Exploring entertainers’ accounts of their unique workplace relationship with alcohol

This qualitative research investigates the alcohol experiences of entertainers who perform within licensed premises. Previous, mainly quantitative, studies have found that entertainers, specifically musicians, are an occupational group who drink excessively. This qualitative study draws on a wider sample of entertainers to examine their accounts of drinking in the workplace and the explanations they provide for this. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews (n = 24) with band-members, variety acts and DJs in Glasgow, Scotland. This revealed a workplace characterised by continual opportunities for often free alcohol consumption. Unlike most occupations, for entertainers ‘drinking-on-the-job’ was normative, expected, and sometimes encouraged by peers, the public, employers or sponsors. Entertainers also experienced performance-related incentives to drink before, during and/or after a show; including anxiety, matching their intoxication level to the audience's, and ‘reward-drinking’. This qualitative research confirms the unique nature of the entertainer-alcohol link, even in comparison to that found within other leisure industry occupations. While providing some explanation as to why entertainers might drink excessively, participants’ accounts also suggested potential strategies for avoiding the negative outcomes of workplace drinking

Transformation and time-out: the role of alcohol in identity construction among Scottish women in early midlife

Despite the increase in drinking by women in early midlife, little alcohol research has focused on this group. We explore how alcohol is associated with the construction of gender identities among women aged 30 to 50 years in the west of Scotland, United Kingdom. We draw on qualitative data from 11 focus groups (five all-female, six mixed-sex) with pre-existing groups of friends and work colleagues in which women and men discuss their drinking behaviours. Analysis demonstrated how alcohol represented a time and space away from paid and unpaid work for women in a range of domestic circumstances, allowing them to relax and unwind. While women used alcohol to construct a range of identities, traditional notions of femininity remained salient (e.g. attention to appearance, drinking ‘girly’ drinks). Drinking enabled women to assert their identity beyond the roles and responsibilities often associated with being a woman in early midlife. For example, some respondents with young children described the transformative effects of excessive drinking which allowed them to return temporarily to a younger, carefree version of themselves. Thus, our data suggest that women's drinking in early midlife revolves around notions of ‘idealised’ femininity but simultaneously represents a way of achieving ‘time out’ from traditional female responsibilities such as caring for others. We consider these findings within a broader social and cultural context including alcohol marketing, domestic roles and motherhood and their implications for health promotion

Nightlife tourism : A mixed methods study of young tourists at an international nightlife resort

Drawing on data generated through quantitative and qualitative methods, this article explores the prevalence and experiences of substance use, casual sex, commercial sex, and health problems among young Danish tourists at an international nightlife resort in Bulgaria. The article argues that the risks the tourists take should not be interpreted as a symptom of nihilism, pathology, or escapist inclinations. Rather, the tourists intentionally engage in certain forms of risk in order to move far beyond the mundane and into states of drunken adventure and memorable excess