Young People’s Safety Practices when Drink Walking in the Suburbs of Manchester, UK

Abstract

Walking whilst intoxicated is a high-risk activity; it is thus important to en­hance understandings of young people’s experiences of walking, bound up with the consumption of alcohol. In this paper, we argue that ‘mobilities’ the­ory has potential to enhance understandings of the emotional, embodied and affective aspects of young people’s alcohol related journeys. This paper draws on innovative qualitative research, com­prising: individual and friendship group interviews and peer interviews, conducted with 40 young people, aged 15-24, living in the suburban case study locations of Chorlton and Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK. When young people’s alcohol-related mobilities have been considered, for instance in the transport studies literature, it has typically been conceptualised in a reductive manner which theorises mobility as “a product of rationally weighed deci­sions” (Spinney, 2009:820). We join a small body of work, in highlighting the emotional, embodied and affective aspects of alcohol-related mobilities. This paper presents findings around two main themes: performing walking and safety, and forced and adaptive mobilities, respectively. This paper con­cludes by recommending ways to improve the safety of young people’s walk­ing practices when on nights out involving alcohol.