Smoking Cessation Ethnography

To the students of the MIT ethnography course: Here’s a research report I did in the late 1990s. It may serve as a model for your presentation January 31 st . Please treat as a rough guide. You are free to invent your own form. Best, Grant McCracken

Smoking Culture: the real “benefits” of smoking the true costs of quitting
text by Grant McCracken, Ph.D.
video by Suzanne Stein, M.A.
Health Canada
March 12, 1998

presentation
objectives
methods
research
smoking culture
section 1
cultural meanings
section 2
cultural practices
section 3
strategic responses
conclusion

objectives
to investigate “smoking culture”
an anthropological account
smoking from the respondent’s point of view
beyond “peer group pressure”
cultural logic of smoking
cultural significance of smoking
the “benefits” of smoking
the true costs of quitting
what people are giving up when they quit

methods
ethnographic interviews
open-ended
seeking key terms in situ
asking for their illumination
determination of cultural meanings & logic
respondent directed
ethnographer a simpleton who knows that he doesn’t know

research
“intercept” interviews
school grounds, street corners
10 minutes (+/-)
drop-in interviews
schools, skateboard parks
1-2 hour interviews (+/-)
prearranged interviews
homes
2 hours (+/-)
30 hours of interviewing
50 teens
November 1997 - January 1998

caveats
“ teens” no homogeneous category
“ teens” in fact more various than “adults”
a dubious category
“ teens” not for reification
surest way to get this wrong is to talk to teens as “teens” (Jaya)
wellspring of bad communications
these results speak for
some but not all groups
some individuals but not all the time

shared objectives
for all the diversity, there are some commonalities:
shared project
moving away from parental influences and authorities
the end of colonialism
a new imperative: how to construct this thing called a self
that is externally & internally plausible & habitable
esp. in a world without “franchising”
when, increasingly, selves are “custom-built” & “hand-made”

smoking culture I
some liberties with term
extraordinary resource
rich in definitional elements
experimental “routines”
the playwright’s chap book
not perfectly discrete
but robust & resilient
not impervious to commercial messages, the “movies.” or public health communications
but not changed without extraordinary effort & some cunning

smoking culture II
an ancient & active culture
knowledge passed down from generation to generation
a kind of folklore: what’s in a Player’s filter?
rituals of initiation
a liminal activity
a repertoire of behaviors
body of meanings, tissue of lies
affirmed constantly by marketing, movies, & every school yard

preliminary goods news
health warnings have had effect
as one respondent says
“[warnings] scare the shit out of you”
years of education have done their work
ancient culture penetrated
oral tradition has new content
given sheer density & power of smoking culture, no small accomplishment

enduring bad news
Canada > 500,000 teens smoke
with knowledge of health risks
with repeated warnings from
school education
print advertising & TV spots
pack warnings
the oral traditions of smoking culture shot through with new knowledge of hazards
but the culture continues, the culture recruits, the culture flourishes

smoking culture
one way out of the bad news?
teens look to smoking for something more than
nicotine
group pressure
social accessory
dieting aid
smoking culture perseveres because it serves as a definitional resource
a bundle of ways of thinking, acting, constructing the self

true proportions of the problem
when we ask people not to start
when we ask people to stop
we are asking them to give up nicotine, resist group pressure, forgo social accessory & dieting aid
but we’re also asking them to give up
a smoking culture
a chap book and repertoire
ways of thinking, acting, constructing the self

the strategic challenge
assess smoking culture
mapping the meanings
establishing the “meta-pragmatic” functions
what smoking means
how smoking is put to work
penetrating an ancient culture
reaffirmed by marketing, movies, & school yard
with communications strategies
that acknowledge the culture & the community

Smoking culture in 3 sections
section 1: cultural meanings
section 2: cultural practices
section 3: strategic responses

section 1: cultural meanings

smoking meaningless
no intrinsic cultural meaning
the Bob Newhart routine
“you do what with it, Walter?”
well placed incredulity
smoking is a peculiar activity
we have given it cultural meaning & potency
we have made it meaning ful
we have made it a definitional resource

cultural meanings
gender
age
rebellion
style
showing cool
showing warm
mood manipulation
(not all of these mutually exclusive)

gender
smoking gets cultured
loaded up with meaning
more particularly
smoking gets gendered
as it turns out, in this culture it begins to take on maleness
the military legacy
the open range legacy
the noir legacy
(a partial list and hasty review)

a caveat
“maleness”
just as much a cultural construction as smoking
we resist this reading with notions of the biological & natural but culture > nature
this analysis treats “maleness” as a cultural construct
(indeed the culture of smoking and culture of maleness have helped construct one another)

Lucky Strike
war good to tobacco
took soldiers off to places tobacco cheap & plentiful
soldiers treated cigarettes the way prisoners do
U.S. Generals Grant & Sherman
British battleship Formidable
Lucky Strike & US troops
a clear cultural formulae
war helps define “maleness” and smoking together
smoking takes on “maleness”

Marlboro
the mythical world of wild west
more imagined than real
rugged individuals
rugged individualism
freedoms of the open plain
several notions of the frontier
frontier defines “maleness” and smoking together

gumshoe tobacco
smoking, prop of noir tradition
Humphrey Bogart’s transformation: hood to hero
defining image: HB squinting through a wall of smoke
definition of resourcefulness
symbol of self control, detachment, power
noir fiction defines “maleness” and smoking together

tobacco and gender
smoking taking on cultural meaning
gendered with “male” meanings from domains of war, frontier and noir
outside worlds
worlds of action
places of
struggle and contest
toughness, aggression
smoking a marker of self and other mastery

the Camel caveat
Camel’s originally an exercise in Said’s orientalism
made to evoke not gendered meanings but colonial ones
Marlboro began as a “female” brand & was regendered by the marketplace
in sum: “maleness” not the only gendered meaning in smoking culture

smoking and males
smoking puts a repertoire at the disposal of males
at crucial developmental moment: when constructing maleness
to create/claim certain qualities
proof must be forthcoming
smoking definitional, helps:
“cure” the self
burn off eagerness
show toughness, aggression
self & (for?) other mastery

smoking and females (circa 1998)
gender under construction
a rethinking of femaleness esp.
Mary Tyler Moore  Cybil
Marilyn  Madonna
Madonna  Courtney Love
Donna Reed  Roseanne
Joan Baez  Ani DiFranco
Phyllis Diller  Janeane Garofalo
Barbara Walters  Kathy Griffin (updated)
Ike & Tina Turner  Tina

gender breakout
breaking out of the prison house of gender
systematic refusal of old meanings assigned by gender
systematic survey of new definitional opportunities
taking possession of new meanings
some of them apparently “male” meanings
these will do nicely, thank you

Boy Capel’s pants
long standing strategy
Coco Chanel
the designer btw the wars
wore her lover’s riding pants
the world held its breath
a strategy to accompany that of the suffragette
power of the vote
power of rights of property
now, the secrets of hegemony
the very language of power

smoking and females
Ani DiFranco as the key text
coming of age in NA society
the horrifying discovery
“ that i live in a breakable, take-able body
an ever-increasingly valuable body” (My IQ, Puddle Dive)
the traditional qualities of “femaleness” are
assumptions of vulnerability
invitations to harassment
coming of age as exposure to risk

smoking culture in action
meanings of smoking useful
allow females to summon cultural meanings against sexist definitions of the self
allow construction of new selves with defensive properties
several interpretive possibilities:
I refuse trad. gender defs. (&?)
I show invulnerability (&?)
I corrupt myself before you do
I corrupt myself so you cannot
more work needed but one “benefit” of smoking culture

age
age a matter of culture
some cultures usher people into adulthood upon sexual maturity
our culture makes a space between childhood & adulthood
& provides no rite of passage
always a contested transition
“teen” claiming early entry
parents demanding late
people must fashion own passage
claim & construct their maturity

smoking and age
many things make smoking redolent of maturity
one of the viseral experiences of the adults around you
cigar smoke and starch
but we are always saying “this is for adults”
and now we do it as health policy
smoking always forbidden fruit
now especially so

vexing paradox
the more we decry smoking
the more we declare not for children and teens
the more we mark it off as risk and danger
the more attractive it becomes
much of the health policy that has worked so well
has only helped to increase this particular cultural meaning
cause for other and new strategies

the promethean factor(?)
it’s almost as if...
(anthropological heresy)
smoking is the fire/power of the Gods
to steal this substance
is to steal this power
the thrill of that first cigarette
the cunning, stealth, the liminal space, the stolen cigarette
as close as anything gets to a rite of passage

the post-promethean factor(?)
it’s almost as if...
(caveat goes here)
one respondent:
it’s like fire coming out of your mouth
is this a claiming of powers beyond the parental
a claiming of powers beyond the bourgeois
a claiming of powers unknown or repudiated by the adult
a suggestion only

claiming age
single most telling marker of youth, childhood is eagerness
the way teens know children is by the latter’s excitableness
the most embarrassing moment is the irruption of excitableness
smoking a superb device for extinguishing eagerness
at a stroke (?) eagerness is gone
a useful way to prevent irruption

cultural meanings of tobacco
make smoking an opportunity to claim maturity
to prosecute the case for new freedoms and privileges
and new autonomy from parental control
smoking culture provides home-made, self bestowed rite of passage
another “benefit” of smoking culture

rebellion
smoking as the badge of refusal
the American cult of the outsider
a James Dean Legacy
now stock Hollywood image
at the movies still
“the villain always smokes”
once largely male, less and less gendered (cf. Thelma & Louise)
rule breaking
the self damage logic (tattooing)

familiar paradox
the more we decry smoking
the more we declare not for children and teens
the more we mark it off as risk and danger
the more it becomes an opportunity to break rules
to play out the outsider’s posture
much of the health policy that has worked so well
cause for other and new strategies

cosa nostra
one respondent: It’s our thing
do not tell us what to do
inverted refusal
under “age:” adults saying it’s our thing
here: teens saying it’s our thing
our badge of refusal
we refuse your terms of engagement
we will make our own way
a key “benefit” of smoking culture

style and pattern
the great induction
to an arbitrary system
the things you have to learn
how to
hold in hand
hold in mouth
to open, extract, hide, exchange
to inhale, exhale
highly patterned, specific
big penalties for error
getting to sprezzatura

messages in the bottle
style the medium of many messages
i.e., gender, age, rebellion
place of hiding (see section 2)
the opportunity for scrutiny: the line of tin cans
marker of membership
texture of social experience
the stuff of an ancient culture
ritual architecture of the moment
sub-group differences: ravers...

not hard wired but hot wired
repeated until burned into muscle memory
habitual knowledge
difficult to learn
deeply comforting to know
a useful marker in the world
the very door of induction
the very stuff of “our thing”
a “benefit” of smoking culture

the construction of cool
a moment in the field
very young teen makes mistake
an error actually of style
cigarette mishandled, disappears
the collapse of the managed self
momentary panic: coat in flames?
then surveillance
had cool produced by smoking been damaged by smoking?
were friends smirking? yes!
remarkably, his cool held

cool and power
“ cool” in our culture several origins, several meanings
our concern, disengagement
Elizabethan cool
men’s hearts be free and they will love whom they lyste
we don’t have to show our compliance
we may offer up obedience, but we will withhold this
smoking as a show of withholding

cool as contract
smoking invested with cool by military, Western, & noir trads.
Humphrey Bogart as an early creature of cool
self control at work in our culture, this community & incident
but, more pressingly, cool is:
distance and disengagement from the social moment
a withholding, a show of discretionary power
that participation is not coerced

another message of messages
distance from childhood
refusal of parenthood
protective barrier behind which the difficult business of self construction can be conducted
a political message
a statement of structural place in the world at the moment this place is disputed and negotiated
a “benefit” of smoking culture

construction of warm
smoking culture a rich one
contains X and not-X
easy to make too much of cool
smoking also a means to be “warm”
a way to show engagement, vividness
to be present, engaged, excited
more on this in section 2
another “benefit” smoking culture

the construction of threat
the visual preemptive strike
a way not just of declaring toughness (within or without gender idiom)
also a way of declaring malevolent intent
sometimes merely preemptive
if you attack me, you can expect response in kind
but sometimes more forthright
I am to be feared
“benefit” of smoking culture

mood manipulation
respondents clear on use of smoking for “self medication”
smoking as calming
creates a place in space
creates a moment in time
creates a focus
creates justification in a culture that treats inactivity as idleness
creates an “away” experience
change in focal plane
disengagement not as politics but as palliative

mood manipulation
highly structured, ritualized
breaks individuals out of time and space
gives pretext
forgives, allows disengagement
an opportunity to reestablish self possession and/or cool
meanings working in concert
smoking as place of respite
smoking as reliable companion
key “benefit” of smoking culture

section 2: cultural practices

smoking useful
gets “social work” done
from Canada’s contribution to social sciences: Irving Goffman
highly strategic device in “impression management” & the presentation of self
from Michael Silverstein
highly strategic “meta-pragmatic function”
how smoking helps get work done

sociality
solitary smoking
ticket of admission
meeting someone (micro)
license to join (macro)
sustain self/role/occasion/face
the problem of social smoking

solitary smoking
solitary smoking is a social act
there is a relationship between smoking and smoker
writing, thinking, walking
giving respite, separation, pacing, concentration
“ portable world” phenomenon
the companionable cigarette
whatever happens at least I have my smokes
building and maintaining the rlts with the self
self management, meta-pragmatic function & benefit

ticket of admission
smoking has still more powerful uses as instrument of sociality
for some a ticket of admission
one respondent: “I never came out here before I started smoking because I found everyone so intimidating”
some spaces & friends off limits to many non-smokers
cigarettes work crudely as badge of membership
meta-pragmatic function & benefit

meeting someone
a more micro social device
smoking as pretext & text for meeting
style and pattern of smoking offers permission and script
you may approach to ask for a cigarette/drag/puff
how you approach to ask for a cigarette/drag/puff
& then manage relationships through exchange of smokes
some social circles a Kula ring

sustaining performances at risk
Goffman argues every social actor (teen or not) constantly at risk of error and loss of face
what is not successfully “in process” at risk of coming undone
nothing is utterly, definitively said or done in social life
everything must be renewed and acquitted
everyone inclined to social error, some teens esp. inclined to it

when things to wrong
we are gifted with impression management strategies
& meta-management strategies
what to do when things go wrong
pea on table; you cannot bale
smoking as a perfect place of first resort
finding, lighting, smoking all give pretexts for the removal, renewal, repair
strategy and benefit without which you’re vulnerable

sustaining role/occasion in danger
Goffman argues every social moment (teen or not) constantly at risk of error and loss of face
what is not in process at risk of dissolution
when things go wrong, they can get bad
a great sliding into difficult
arrest the slide or ...
smoking culture to the rescue

section 3: strategic responses

smoking culture
meanings in review
gender
age
rebellion
style
cool
warm
threat
mood
real “benefits”
true costs

smoking culture II
practices in review
solitary smoking
joining a group
establishing a relationship
sustaining performances at risk
smoking as text and pretext
real “benefits”
true costs

communications caveat I
this group deeply suspicious
of an adult world
and more particularly of
medical authority
government authority
marketing “persuasions”
social scientists
journalists
popular culture makers (Hollywood, music...)
they have seen the “man behind the curtain”
they are not impressed

communications caveat II
this is not a group
that can be patronized
that can be “played”
that will respond to threats
that will respond to promises
that will respond to blandishments
that will suffer fools gladly
this group possesses media literacy
they will spot artifice, stratagem
all but the most candid, transparent strategies ill advised

communications caveat III
they do not wish to be called “teens”
they do not wish to be treated as a group (Jesse)
they do not wish to be “played back” to themselves
esp. not by an art director’s (or anthropologist)
most important: don’t try to be one of them
don’t try to be “cool” (or “warm”)

existing communications strategies
government efforts in general
recollected advertising
health warnings on packages

government efforts in general
evidence of accomplishment
“scare the crap out of you and that’s good”
“I remember the first time I saw the woman withering away, I went whoa”
“they should go extreme, otherwise kids won’t here, they’re listening to MTV”
mixed reviews

health warnings on package
some approve:
warning on boxes is good, a second thought
some disregard
some mock
some collect and mock
some rework to mock

problem with health warnings on package
voice of authority
voice of adult authority
voice of adult government authority
voice of adult government and medical authority
“don’t tell me what I can and can’t do”

new communications strats
when to intervene
older to younger
ad busting
new warnings on pack
media literacy
website
CD ROM
anthropologist
noticing how people smoke
noticing all the things noticed here

when to intervene
a crucial summer
a liminal time
no longer the lord of junior high
no longer the captive of day care
newly attentive to popular culture
between programs
a moment of vulnerability, opportunity, curiosity
the moment to make contact

new strategies: older to younger
it is clear that some younger teens smoke to establish credentials to join older teens
they believe that they look older
collect video of older teens saying otherwise
e.g., “they look disparate to me, like they are trying to hard”
this is teens talking to teens through intermediary of government

new strategies: ad busting
we know that the corporate connection helps sensitize teens to smoking
we know there is activism here
we know there is an “anti-smoking culture” in the works
encourage “anti-smoking culture”
encourage ad busting ideology
this is teens by teens for teens

new strategies: health warnings
design according to teen suggestions, e.g.,
person’s face before and after smoking
tongue cancer, throat cancer
x-ray of cancerous lung
wake-up stupid
cancer cell mutating
a crowd of people standing around a hospital bed
you’re cool

new strategies: noticing media (media literacy)
create materials for school boards and websites
encourage media literacy courses at younger age
supply movie footage, advertising reels, print ads
supply some “things to look for” possibilities
leave it to teens to instruct teens
wait for adbusting perspective to emerge

new strategies: noticing smoking culture (anthropology)
create materials for school boards and websites
encourage “culture busting”
a sensitivity that encourages self consciousness and intervention
supply movie footage, etc.
supply some noticing possibilities
leave teens to instruct teens
wait for culture busting sentiment to emerge

new strategies: website & CD
delivery vehicle for classrooms & noticing media and noticing smoking culture programs
archive
movie clips
TV & print tobacco ads
ethnograpic video
critiquing opportunities
old communications
proposed communications
voting & comment systems
(for CD) chat line

new strategies: “smokes and booze” strategy
Avi Lewis’ New Music treatment “Smokes and Booze”
new penetration of beer & cigarette marketing in rock
clear discomfort on part of musicians & fans
create “musicians against tobacco” campaign fund
each band contributes % of tobacco supported work
 bands come clean
creates a concert system that needs no Tobacco Ind. support
 industry/fans come clean

summary
objectives
methods
research
smoking culture
section 1
cultural meanings
section 2
cultural practices
section 3
strategic responses
conclusion

Smoking Cessation Ethnography

by Grant McCracken on Jan 17, 2008

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