"Any one, any where, any time": the social construction of drink driving in New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis examines the social construction of drink driving in New Zealand. The social constructionist approach employed treats drink driving as a putative social problem, and examines the tactics used to generate concern over drink driving. The perception of drink driving as a social problem is not related to changes in the incidence of drink driving road crashes, but to the claims making activities of groups and organisations either contesting the ownership of drink driving, or seeking to increase their power once ownership has been established. The media representation, during the month before and month of selected drink driving legislation changes, is described and analysed. The selected legislative changes are the introduction of chemical breath and blood tests for alcohol in May of 1969, the lowering of permissible blood alcohol levels and trebling of fines in October of 1978, and the introduction of compulsory breath testing in April of 1993. There have been marked changes in the construction of drink driving as a social problem between 1969 and 1993. The thesis describes how the 'objective facts' of drink driving have been constructed by the interaction of media reporting and claims to expertise and science. Research reports, fatal accident report forms, and Ministry of Transport annual reports and files are examined. Rather than a simple counting exercise, the generation of drink driving statistics is shown to be a subjective activity. The politics involved with drink driving, and the implications of these for the ownership of drink driving, are discussed. Legislation has been introduced to counter drink driving when the legal provisions sought have already been available. By operating well within their legal parameters, law enforcers have managed to secure increasing powers. The thesis also suggests that the concepts of ideology, as meaning in the service of power, and hegemony can be applied to the treatment of drink driving.