Resumen de El consum recreatiu d'esteroides anabolitzants: una perspectiva sociològica
The present study aims to provide a sociological overview of anabolic steroid use in Valencia (Spain), with particular attention to social factors that promote and sustain the recreational use of this drug. We consider not only the extensively documented health risks, but also the social determinants associated with its use. The lack of studies, both in the European and Valencian contexts, which describe the extension and consumption patterns of anabolic steroids among young people, has inspired us to portray the sociological characteristics of the recreational anabolic steroid user, taking the main conceptual tools of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu as a central reference point. Following a logic of continuity, with theoretical and methodological complementarity, the bibliographical production on the issue was analyzed in two of the most academically prestigious international databases, Scopus and Sociological Abstracts, in order to suitably describe the problem and to document it as completely as possible. Next, we thought it appropriate to analyze the news generated around anabolic steroids in the written press over the last five years, using four reference newspapers: El País, La Vanguardia, Levante-EMV and Las Provincias; this allowed us to understand the phenomenon in greater depth by contextualizing it culturally and identifying the different social discourses which exist on the matter. The research was developed by means of qualitative methodology based on a semi-structured interview. The sample was formed by 21 men aged 20–45 from the city of Valencia and its surroundings; 16 were users of anabolic steroids and 5 were not. Subjects were initially selected from personal contacts, and afterwards by means of the snowball technique. Factors evaluated included social and demographic characteristics; occupation; lifestyle; motivations and patterns of anabolic steroid use; information availability; gym membership; illegal trade; aggression and other types of violence; cultural practices; body aesthetics; ideology; and social perception of anabolic steroid use in Valencia as compared to the rest of Spain. We concluded that young people who use and abuse anabolic steroids present similar consumption patterns to other substances of abuse. This finding emerged during the interviews, which revealed key issues such as dependence or withdrawal symptoms that consumers of anabolic steroids experience, as well as the lack of control in the measurement of doses and a low perception of risk. These results are reinforced socially by a positive perception of the stereotyped male body image of physical strength and masculinity. Anabolic steroids use has spread beyond the athletic environment, approaching use patterns related to recreational activities and other drugs of abuse; therefore studying use patterns from this perspective is important. In part, this characterization of the phenomenon is due to users’ low perception of risk, the tendency to repeat consumption, and its spread without any kind of information. The sociological profile of the recreational anabolic steroid user includes the following features: low educational level, frequent family problems, some employment instability, Pantagruelian eating habits, frequent splits in romantic relationships, and regular attendance at discotheques and the beach. Regarding cultural and aesthetic practices, users like electronic music as well as rap and hip-hop, warlike films, sports cars and convertibles, tattoos, tight clothes, body hair removal, and tanning salons; they do not show any interest for reading. In some cases, they also have potentially dangerous dogs, such as dobermans or pitbulls. With regard to their political ideology, they declared themselves apolitical or directly disinterested in everything around politics. Others declared themselves conservatives and in a few cases, sympathizers to extreme right positions. Their views on the environment, unemployment and immigration are frequently expressed in a language revealing apathy, homophobia and prejudice. Finally, if we enter into the realm of collective identities, we can bluntly state that our prototypical young man feels primarily Spanish, an attribute of his identity which he proudly boasts whenever there is an occasion for it. In a parallel way, he may feel great hostility or indifference towards the Valencian language and culture, even when Valencian is his mother tongue. To sum up, it is necessary to further investigate the patterns of recreational steroid use among young Valencians, paying special attention to certain vulnerable populations and occupations, to obtain more information and studies on these substances and to design preventive interventions in contexts that have been localized as areas of risk, such as gyms, medical practitioners’ offices, security companies, and other settings of socialization for the young, such as schools, clubs, sports clubs, universities, and sports and recreation centers. Another fundamental aspect is to compare and characterize with more detail the sociodemographic, ideological, and labor characteristics, as well as those related to the lifestyle, cultural practices and consumer tastes of recreational steroid users in other socioeconomic, cultural and territorial contexts.
