The implication of the concept "nikotiiniriippuvuus" in the Finnish tobacco discussion
Sammanfattning
BACKGROUND - We examined the Finnish concept of "nikotiiniriippuvuus" (nicotine addiction or
dependency in English) in two public arenas in recent Finnish history (1970s, 1990s and 2000s). One
was the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the other the medical professional journal
Lääkärilehti. DATA & DESIGN - A total of 102 print press items from the 1990s and the 2000s were
collected through electronic archives with the search word "nikotiiniriippuvuus". In addition, 41 texts
were collected manually from the 1970s. RESULTS - Of the items from the 1970s, only three
mentioned the concept of "riippuvuus". Overall, we found that the use of "nikotiiniriippuvuus" has
increased greatly over time. In order to know more about the implications of this, we identified some
themes as meaning-making traits surrounding the concept in the materials. The analysis points to
four main meaning-making functions of the concept: i) agenda-setting, ii) introducing and explaining
self-governance techniques, iii) introducing a medical understanding, and iv), mediating views on
responsibility division.