RRoom

Drinking, drugs and self-control : 

Drinking, drugs and self-control Robin Room robin.room@sorad.su.se Lecture, 27 September, 2005 Sociology Department, University of Helsinki

Slide2: 

The symbolic power of substance use Positive symbolism of use Champagne = celebration Positive symbolism of abstaining Marker of faith for Muslims, Mormons ... Negative symbolism of use or heavy use “drunkard”, “dope field”, “alcoholic”, “drug addict”, “dependent on drugs” all stigmatized Negative symbolism of abstaining “wowser” Variation by time and place in the symbolism

Slide3: 

Properties behind the symbolic power: 1 Valued physical goods Amenable to commodification, industrialization, globalization Access as a symbol of power and domination Use as a social behaviour A performance in front of others Demarcating the social group’s boundaries of inclusion/exclusion Taken into body Intimate behaviour Fateful: can contaminate – poison, infection, sin, spirit possession Subject to prescriptions and taboos

Slide4: 

Properties behind the symbolic power: 2 Psychoactive = power to affect thinking & behaviour Intoxication, taking on out of oneself Valued and feared: Double edge of terms: pharmakon, drug, intoxication Intoxicated behaviour as unpredictable, intractable, dangerous  powerful Causing addiction/dependence Enslavement, loss of control of drug use and of life So multiple underlays of symbolic power Symbolism in everyday life Emotive symbolism in political movements for control “demon rum” then, “scourge” now

An example: Kate Moss – ”the coolest woman on earth”Jess Cartner-Morley, Guardian, 15 Sept. 2005: 

An example: Kate Moss – ”the coolest woman on earth” Jess Cartner-Morley, Guardian, 15 Sept. 2005 ~Sept. 14: chosen as guest editor for December French Vogue ”there is something magical about Kate” -- Carine Roitfeld, Vogue editor ”Moss’s influence over fashion grows by the minute. She stalks the catwalks and corridors of fashion power looking mischievous and haughty at the same time, like Madame Pompadour, only slightly less chaste.... [Moss] currently has two public looks. One is accessorized with a waistcoat, Pete Doherty, a bottle of beer and sunglasses which hint at late, late nights; the other is elegant and decadent, in an F. Scott Fitzgerald kind of way, all expensive evening gowns and gin and tonics. The theme for Moss’s birthday party at Claridges, after all, was ’the beautiful and the damned’.” (Cartner-Morley)

15 September: ”Cocaine Kate”: 

15 September: ”Cocaine Kate” The Daily Mirror publishes grainy camera-photo stills of her chopping and snorting cocaine. (Moss had previously won a libel suit against the Sunday Mirror.) ”As she parties on well into the early hours”, she ”chats merrily” about her 2-year-old daughter, ”looks unsteady and exhausted as the session continues. ”Between lines of cocaine, she repeatedly twitches her nose and rubs her nostrils. ”On five occasions she expertly prepares the lines of coacine, carefully using a credit card to cut the powder into neat lines for her, Doherty and the others” in the recording session. ”...Kate begins the night with shots of vodka and whisky. ”She then pours herself large glasses of wine and beer and chain-smokes cigarettes.”

Cool Britain meets drug-hostile Sweden and U.S. : 

Cool Britain meets drug-hostile Sweden and U.S. 16 September: Hennes and Mauritz, her biggest contract, initially gives her a ”second chance”: ”We strongly disapprove of her actions.... We have strict rules for engaging models. They should be healthy, wholesome and sound and we are strongly against drug abuse – and we have made this clear to Kate Moss. After hearing her explanation and her regret we have decided for the time being to continue the campaign”. H&M statement ”There were quickly signs that the company had misjudged the mood of the public, and some sections of the media.... Stores were inundated withh calls of protest, a worrying development in conservative parts of America, where H&M is seeking to expand”. A. Duval Smith, N. Mathiason & D. Smith, Observer 25 Sept. 19 September: After further tabloid revelations, she is dropped by H&M: ”After the feedback from customers and other papers, we decided we should distance ourselves for any kind of drug abuse” ”H&M distances itself strongly from drugs and for several years has been actively engaged in drug prevention work with the Mentor Foundation”. H&M statement ”The man who fired supermodel Kate Moss ... Is a Swedish billionaire obsessed with corporate ethics and responsibility ... and a founding trustee of a charity dedicated to fighting drugs.... He would otherwise have faced severe embarrassment from Mentor, a drugs prevention organization fronted by the Swedish royal family and supported by H&M, which told The Observer that Persson made ’the only decision possible.... H&M is an image maker and an example to young people.” Smith, Mathiason & Smith, 25 Sept.

Falling dominoes: 

Falling dominoes 19 Sept: Mirror quotes Moss as telling her brother: ”I don’t need to go into rehab but I’ll have to or it won’t look good”. 20-21 September: Chanel, Burberry and Gloria Vanderbilt drop Moss and the Metropolitan Police announce an investigation of her drug use. Speculation in press about cancellations of her remaining modeling contracts. 21 Sept.: ”Moss is now expected to admit to problems in her personal life and go speedily into rehab as damage limitation”, S. Menkes, H&M drops Moss from campaign, Int’l Herald Tribune 21 Sep., p. 14.

”Various personal issues I need to address”: 

”Various personal issues I need to address” 21 September: Moss’s statement: ”I take full responsibility for my actions. "I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult, yet necessary, steps to resolve them. "I want to apologise to all of the people I have let down because of my behaviour, which has reflected badly on my family, friends, co-workers, business associates and others. "I am trying to be positive, and the support and love I have received are invaluable.“ Coty Beauty, which manages the Rimmel brand, puts out a statement: "[We] are pleased to acknowledge the statement released by Kate Moss today apologising for her recent actions. We would like to express our support for all those who undertake the often difficult process of overcoming their problems.“ 23 September: Mirror publishes a commentary by Corrine Sweet, ”psychologist and addiction expert”, and a short editorial Sweet: ”Saying sorry, and admitting she’s going to get help, means she’s seeing clearly for the first time in years. ”Kate might not realise it yet, but she will look back and realise that the day her drug abuse was exposed was the best of her life.” Editorial: ”Kate Moss has behaved incredibly stupidly, but she now accepts that she has done wrong. ”Her public apology is welcome – if overdue. ”Her cocaine abuse has cost her financially and may even threaten her career. But Kate has acknowledged that she needs help, and for that she should be applauded”. 24 September: ”Kate, who has publicly apologized for her drug-taking, is due to check into a rehab clinic today” (M. Fricker, Horse drug Kate, Mirror 24/9)

The brand of her new ad campaign: Recovery: 

The brand of her new ad campaign: Recovery A television and cinema campaign for Rimmel, the cosmetics manufacturer, [was] shot [using Moss] just days before the scandal broke.... Rimmel is reluctant to write off the entire campaign by ditching Moss now.” ”Sources in the advertising world say that Rimmel brokered last week’s deal in which Moss issued her apology and in return received the company’s support. She may seek treatment at a rehabilitation centre such as The Priory, the clinic in southwest London which is popular with celebrities.” In the video, ... Moss is her old self. She is shown drinking and partying all night and then dabbing on a new foundation – called Recovery – on her face in a taxi before arriving at work looking beautiful and fresh despite her lack of sleep”. M. Chittenden. Moss bounces back with new ad deal, Sunday Times Sept. 25.

The imagery of use: positive: 

The imagery of use: positive Cocaine as a signal of affluence, luxury Functional for a fashion model: ”How else to stay as thin as a prepubescent boy?... Many models subsist on a diet that includes generous quantities of cigarettes, caffeine, and cocaine.... Moss has, in the past, admitted to trying drugs becausen she was worried about getting fat”. (A. Fortini, Slate 23 Sept.) Managing ”hard drug” use as a symbol of self-control: ” writers marveled at how amazing Moss looked, dressed in hot pants and Nancy Sinatra boots, even while allegedly getting high in the wee hours of the morning” The negative as positive: ”This being fashion, drugs go in and out of vogue. In the early 1990s it was heroin that was chic – with Moss, ironically, being the teenage poster girl for this era. Magazine shoots and designer advertisements played with heroin imagery, featuring girls slumped on grubby sheets, pale and vacant. Sometime around 1995, cocaine replaced heroin; shoots and advertisements now aimed to evoke the super-confident, sexually aggressive atmosphere of a coke-fuelled nightclub. Glass coffee tables became a favoured stylists’s prop, and mirrored catwalks were de rigueur. ”Rumours of Kate Moss’s lifestyle have abounded for years. But it has not been a case of designers and marketing directors wanting Moss despite those rumours; they adored her, in part, because of them”. (J. Cartner-Morley, Beauty and the bust, Guardian 23 Sept.)

The imagery of use: negative: 

The imagery of use: negative Too positive: ”The euphoria bleeds out everything else, so all you can think about is cocaine. It is such a powerful feeling.” (Prof. J. Henry, Observer, 18 Sept.) Getting caught: ”The fuss about Kate Moss using cocaine reminds me of the police chief in Casablanca.... Nobody can possibly be surprised; as so often, Ms. Moss’s crime was getting caught.” (S. Hoggart, Guardian 24 Sept.) ”There is a world of difference between hinting an naughtiness – calling it decadence, bohemianism, partying – and having drug-use laid bare, Now the line between that fantasy and reality has been laid bare, fashion has become retrospectively moralistic, however implausibly”. (J. Cartner-Morley, Guardian 23 Sept.) Adverse physical and psychological effects ”I have been around a few hardened drug-takers.... What you learn is that, sooner or later, no one can take it. Your world comes apart. Your health goes. The mind rots. The money runs out. And the police come calling. ”It is different for the very rich. Money – like youth, like good health – will protect you from the ravages of illegal substances for a while. But only for a while. ”Those pictures of Kate’s bony legs ... reveal that she has had her run.” (Mirror, 19 Sept.) And then there is addiction ...

Wild behaviour, abuse – or addiction? 1: 

Wild behaviour, abuse – or addiction? 1 So far from Moss (24 Sept.): ”behaviour which has reflected badly”, ”various personal issues that I need to address and ... resolve” Wild behaviour ”A former model who witnessed the wild bender said she was ’amazed’ at the amount of drugs Kate got through.... ’She couldn’t stop talking and was also chain-smoking. She was acting quite big-headed, and boasting about how much drugs she could do. Then she started dancing on her own in the room. She was gurning and her eyes were rolling’.” (M. Fricker, Mirror 24 Sept.) Abuse (and illegality, and bad company) ”The trouble is that to Pete [Doherty’s] circle a line of coke is just like smoking a cigarette. She’s in trouble being around Pete. It could wreck her career”. (James Mullord, Doherty’s ex-manager, inMirror 19 Sept.) A ”friend”: ”She wouldn’t listen to warnings about her lifestyle....” The father of Lila, Moss’s 2-year-old: ”That stupid bastard. She’s not thinking of Lila. I know Kate is a good mother who loves our child. But I’m no longer allowing our daughter to be in the same room as Doherty. He’s turned Kate into a druggie like him”. (S. Moyes, Mirror 17 Sept.)

Wild behaviour, abuse – or addiction? 2: 

Wild behaviour, abuse – or addiction? 2 Addiction ”For years, Moss has managed to dodge any real trouble. But there have long been chinks in her image. In 1998, she checked herself into a rehab clinic for ’exhaustion’. In a rare interview, she admitted that she modeled drunk throughout much of the ’90s. She is almost always photographed with a cigarette in one hand – she is said to have an 80-a-day habit – and a cocktail in the other.” (A. Fortini, Kate Moss, Slate 23 Sept.) ”Beating her addiction will be tough and she faces extensive therapy and emotional nourishment to build herself up again.... But letting things spiral out of control would be harder on Kate.... At the core of addiction is need, a deep-seated craving, a ravenous, aching need that has no end and feels as if it can’t be quenched or satiated”. (C. Sweet, Confession that could turn Kate’s liffe around, Mirror 23 Sept.) ”Taking a dive”: the pluses and minuses of pleading addiction: A source says that her brother Nick ”said she knows she’s got to go into rehab. She doesn’t want to but who would? The last time she went in she told Nick it wasn’t a nice place..... Nick has told his sister she must enter rehab – even if it is only for a few days”. (G. Box & S. Moyers, ’I don’t need rehab but it will look bad if I don’t go’, Mirror, 19 Sept.) Under a recent British court judgement that a celebrity deserved privacy about attending Narcotiucs Anonymous, if Moss ”were to argue that she has a ’condition’ that requires ’treatment’ and as such it is personal and medical,... media intrusion into her privacy could attract privacy protection” by the British courts. (E. Forbes, Sex, drugs and privacy, Guardian 20 Sept.)

Slide15: 

The idea of addiction “the discovery of addiction” -- (Levine 1978) alcohol in post-revolutionary U.S. -- 1800-1830 Ideology of self-control Mobility  nuclear family on its own objectively dependent on husband/father’s self-control Early temperance movement method: the Pledge addiction as explanation for backsliding a disease of the will (Valverde, 1998); desire defeating the will implies a conceptual separation of desire from the will a “new, darker view” of habitual heavy drinking in post-1830 British novels (McCormick, 1969) not a totally novel idea (Warner, Porter), but  part of popular thinking along with temperance (Ferentzy, 2001)

Slide16: 

A profusion of terms: addiction, inebriety, alcoholism, dependence Addiction concept established in early 1800s Medical discussion by mid-1800s Forerunning discussions by Rush, Trotter around 1800 Medical and popular terminology in English varies: inebriety, dipsomania, narcomania “Alcoholism” coined by Huss in 1849 But only applied in modern sense after 1930s, in the context of the U.S. alcoholism movement

Slide17: 

Addiction concept applied to other psychoactive substances By 1900, the addiction concept has spread to other substances, e.g.: Crothers, 1902, The Drug Habits and Their Treatment Uses “addiction” to describe inebriety from cocaine, chloral, ether, chloroform, etc. “The delusion that these unfortunates have full possession of their will to abstain or continue is fast passing away. We are now able to recognize in most of these cases well-defined diseases that begin and follow a progressive line on to death or restoration.” Towns, 1915, Habits that Handicap “TOBACCO ADDICTION MORE DANGEROUS THAN DRUG HABIT OR ALCOHOLISM ... “A very wide experience in studying the result of the use of narcotics has convinced me that the total harm done by tobacco is greater than that done by alcohol or drugs.”

The heart of addiction: loss of control ...: 

The heart of addiction: loss of control ... ... over drinking/drug use: Loss of control in the moment, from intoxication Jellinek 1960: ”inability to stop once started” Loss of control over time, pattern of use Jellinek 1960: ”inability to abstain” Focus on the pattern over time, but: inferred from events loss of control as explanation of continued behaviour despite apparent harm Edwards and Gross 1976: loss of control  impairment of control Craving as the explanation of loss or impairment of control ... over life because of use (cultural rather than medical concept) “We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. ” – First step of AA ”sobriety” in AA means more than not drinking

Slide19: 

Addiction and the WHO Expert Committees Expert Committee has the task under the international narcotic control treaties (1961 & 1971 and earlier treaties) of classifying substances as addictive and in terms of degree of addiction Met annually (every 2 years lately), usually dominated by pharmacologists, often with US training 1957: last attempt to provide a pharmacological justification for which substances were under control: addictive substances, versus habituating substances; alcohol in between “Addiction-producing drugs need strict control, national and international; for habit-forming drugs, the warning [label] and national control measures should suffice,... but any warning concerning habituation should not carry the stigma of addiction.” (1957 Expert Committee Report)

Slide20: 

Addiction vs. Habituation – WHO Expert Committee, 1957

Slide21: 

A genealogy of “dependence” Pre-existing general meanings: weak, “dependent” personality not self-sufficient: “welfare dependency” Specific prior meanings in pharmacology withdrawal symptoms (as in “cross-dependence”) tolerance & withdrawal, taken together  “physical dependence” in 1964 1964: distinction between addiction and habituation of 1957 abandoned “dependence” as the term substituted for both addiction and habituation defined as physical but also psychological (craving, loss of control, etc.) 1976: applied also to alcohol as “alcohol dependence syndrome” (Edwards & Gross) 1980: dependence replaces addiction & alcoholism in 9th ed. of International Classification of Diseases

Slide22: 

Four versions of dependence in the Anglo-American tradition

Slide23: 

Where does addiction/dependence matter in practice? In treatment: as justification of abstinence standard but not per se as the object or goal of treatment e.g., Addiction Severity Index (ASI): no measure of addiction as justification of maintenance (e.g., methadone) addiction too strong to be changed In policy and prevention: drug policies are not directly aimed at addiction (MacCoun, forthcoming: “Is the addiction concept useful for drug policy?”)

Slide24: 

Where does addiction/dependence matter in practice? (continued) In policy: Rhetoric at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs: drugs as “scourge” traffickers as evil youth as innocent and vulnerable but little about the addict or addiction/dependence addiction/dependence as the rationale for what is basically a system of criminalization and coercion dependence, sin, crime: alternatives or complements as concepts?

Slide25: 

Addiction/dependence and stigma Alcoholism concept originally promoted to reduce the stigma on the alcoholic/inebriate Within AA: ”sickness” concept as reducing the intolerable load of guilt for new recruits Alcoholism movement: alcoholic distinguished from the “common drunk” (Marty Mann) But it carries its own stigma 7 presidents of tobacco companies swearing to U.S. Congress in 1994 that they do not believe cigarettes are addictive (stance abandomed in 1998) Acknowledges failure of self-management and self-control Knowledge  responsibility: the duty to cooperate in the ”cure” or management of the condition

Slide26: 

The “general theme underlying” American statements on alcoholism “has to do with lack of self-control on the part of the drinker. This societal symbolism of the deviation as a sign of character weakness is one of the most vivid and isolating distinctions which can be made in a culture which attributes morality, success, and respectability to the power of a disciplined will.” (Lemert, Social Pathology, 1951:356)

Slide27: 

Now you see it, now you don’t Addiction as a rationale for policy but addiction tends to disappear in the content and application of the policies addiction vs. habit: mysteriousness of etiology alienation from the true self possession by alien forces addiction/dependence as a modern, apparently scientific, substitute for old ideas of spirit possession?

Loss of control and modernity -1: 

Loss of control and modernity -1 Rationality as the norm, the irrational needs explaining A preference for rationalizing explanations Intoxication as the archetype of impaired control A divorce between will and desire That we can find ourselves doing things we desire even against our will Is will something permanent with a continuing existence in us, or does it change from moment to moment? Jon Elster, Ulysses and the Sirens Economists and ”rational addiction”: the temporal structure of ”preferences” The consumer society and the cultivation of desire The free market and promotion without limits Self-control in ”consumer choice” as the only acceptable limit

Loss of control and modernity - 2: 

Loss of control and modernity - 2 The individuation of social control: The cultural imperative of self-control – in the moment and over time Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process Demonstrating self-control with respect to drugs as a modern Pilgrim’s Progress? Within culturally determined limits? MacAndrew & Edgerton, Drunken Comportment Except for the bohemian fringe? – back to Kate Moss Intoxicating substances as a social sorting process Replacing no longer acceptable differentiations – by race, class, inheritance Acceptable because based on the individual’s behaviour, establishing moral worthiness or stigma But opt-outs for the privileged (George W Bush), moral opprobrium for the poor A postmodern justification for social inequality?