The ripple effect of alcohol – Consequences beyond the drinker

A significant amount of alcohol-related harm afflicts others than the drinker. The negative effects from drinking puts children and families at particular risk. In order to tackle the effects from drinking we must determine how alcohol affects others and what areas of society are affected.

The publication The ripple effect of alcohol – Consequences beyond the drinker provides perspectives on how drinking affects us as individuals and as a society.

In order to strengthen research projects and collaboration focusing on alcohol’s harm to others, the Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues established a Nordic research network, H20 Nordic, in 2013. The project has generated a number of Nordic comparative studies and publications.

The ripple effect of alcohol – Consequences beyond the drinker outlines the key findings of the research network. What kind of harms do Nordic people experience from the drinking of family, friends and co-workers? To what extent do Nordic people experience harm from strangers’ drinking? When is parents’ alcohol use in the presence of children acceptable and what makes it less so?

Other topics in the publication include deliberation upon measuring harm in terms of money, and an international perspective on alcohol’s harm to others. Additionally, the publication includes accounts of hands-on approaches to harm from others drinking, for instance a report on how the police in Greenland aims to replace domestic violence with dialogue and how cooperation between bars, the police and municipalities minimises nightlife violence in Sweden.