Zwischen Abstinenz, Rausch und Gelegenheitskonsum

The consumption of alcohol is an integral component of the experiences of adolescents, inextricably interwoven with a myriad of issues pertaining to the transition to adulthood. Experiences with alcohol consumption become salient in peer and family relationships, through which collective affiliations, socio-spatial integration, and diverse youth cultural practices and rituals are shaped. This biographical longitudinal study provides insights into this complex interplay and reconstructs the consumption of alcohol as an element of youth cultural transitions. The study is based on biographical narratives of adolescents with experience of alcohol consumption, and these experiences, demands and forms of organisation are traced over a period of six years.