Social representation of alcohol in perspective

Alcohol is an addictive substance that is integrated and normalized indifferentcultural contexts, and therefore has different forms of social representation. These haveevolved significantly over the years, as evidenced by the changing consideration ofalcohol as avice to a disease in developed societies over the last fifty years. Socialrepresentation is considered to be a way of building and interpret in reality and ofintegrating collective beliefs. However, a leitmotif exists in societies that have traditionallyconsumed alcohol, characterized by a great permissiveness that leads to increasedconsumption. We have reviewed some works that analyze these issues and in conclusion,we point out that social representation is a modifiable construct that may be used as apreventive action in alcohol consumption in thegeneral population and more specifically,in experimental consumption amongst young people.