Ehkäisevän päihdetyön kansalaiskasvatusdiskurssit – Esimerkkinä 1960–1980-lukujen sanomalehtikirjoitukset
Keywords:
Civic education, preventive intoxicant work, discourseAbstract
Civic education discourses in preventive intoxicant work – Exemplified by newspaper articles from the 1960s to the 1980s. The article is based on a study that analysed what kinds of civic education discourses relating to preventive intoxicant work are identifiable in newspaper articles from the 1960s to the 1980s. The most important discourses included control and enlightenment discourse, responsibility discourse, lifestyle discourse and health discourse. The symbols for sobriety weeks were condensations of the general themes that were emphasized in discussions over the years. The conflict between total abstinence and moderate use was detectable in all discourses. The control and enlightening discourse was accentuated above all in the 1960s and 70s. This discussion was particularly affected by what was emphasized in the prohibition act, social welfare legislation and the alcohol act, as it was the duty of society to intervene in problems that disturb social order. In the responsibility discourse, the responsibility for intoxicant use lay essentially with the individual but was partly also extended to communities and society. The lifestyle discourse focused on a natural, balanced, healthy, future-oriented and drink-free lifestyle. This discussion was going on during all the decades. The health discourse focused at first on the consequences of the adverse effects caused by tobacco and alcohol, and later on it emphasised healthy ways of life, e.g. a healthy diet. Health education discussion expanded along with the National Health Act, which entered into force in the 1970s, and continued in the 1980s. Expertise in preventive intoxicant work attached more and more to the field of health care, which partly led to the medicalisation of intoxicant problems. The study showed that the activities of preventive intoxicant work emphasising civic education were very varied from the 1960s to the 1980s. It can be characterised as networking work highlighting supervision, enlightenment, inclusion and agency.
