Availability of Alcoholic Beverages During the Brazilian Navy Working Hours

Abstract

This article presents and discusses one of the five main categories that emerged from the narratives of patients treated in a military outpatient clinic of the Brazilian Navy: the availability of drinks on board. A dense ethnography was conducted at this clinic from 2005 to 2009, and, in 2010, a participant observation was carried out in two treatment groups, during 24 sessions. Sampling, data collection, analysis, and interpretation occurred in an interactive way, rather than in a stepwise sequence. Data interpretation was possible by using the Peircean abduction reasoning of the peculiar categories that emerged in the participants’ discourse. A templum-synthesis was built according to the Boudon diagram to analyze and discuss the information. In conclusion, the institution seems to contribute to the production of the alcoholic habitus, unaware that alcohol availability may influence the emergence of alcoholism, leading to harmful impacts on the health of its contingent.