Alcoholism in America
Alcoholism in America

Author: Sarah W. Tracy

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2007-05-21

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0801891671

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Despite the lack of medical consensus regarding alcoholism as a disease, many people readily accept the concept of addiction as a clinical as well as a social disorder. An alcoholic is a victim of social circumstance and genetic destiny. Although one might imagine that this dual approach is a reflection of today's enlightened and sympathetic society, historian Sarah Tracy discovers that efforts to medicalize alcoholism are anything but new. Alcoholism in America tells the story of physicians, politicians, court officials, and families struggling to address the danger of excessive alcohol consumption at the turn of the century. Beginning with the formation of the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates in 1870 and concluding with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920, this study examines the effect of the disease concept on individual drinkers and their families and friends, as well as the ongoing battle between policymakers and the professional medical community for jurisdiction over alcohol problems. Tracy captures the complexity of the political, professional, and social negotiations that have characterized the alcoholism field both yesterday and today. Tracy weaves American medical history, social history, and the sociology of knowledge into a narrative that probes the connections among reform movements, social welfare policy, the specialization of medicine, and the social construction of disease. Her insights will engage all those interested in America's historic and current battles with addiction.

Recent Developments in Alcoholism
Recent Developments in Alcoholism

Author: Marc Galanter

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1986-03-31

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 0306421704

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From the President of the Research Society on Alcoholism In recent years the alcohol research field has matured and is attracting a substantial number of eager and technically sophisticated researchers. There is a feeling of excitement and premonitions of breakthroughs as more and more of alcohol's actions are being detailed. I, however, have at times been sobered by the perception that the lure of parsimonious explanations and the appeal of studying easily demonstrable effects obscure the critical issues re garding alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Central questions regarding (1) the reinforcing properties of ethanol and other factors responsible for inappro priate consumption of alcohol, (2) the heterogenous characteristics (both bi ologic and sociologic) of the alcoholic population, and (3) the differential predisposition of individuals to alcohol-induced medical problems needed to be vigorously pursued. Researchers who used animals as models for the human condition needed to become more intimately aware of the variety of factors that are of importance in the development of alcoholism in an indi vidual. On the other hand, researchers studying humans needed to attempt to more clearly define and categorize diagnostic criteria and characteristics of various alcoholic populations. Such categorization and continued character ization of alcoholism allows not only for a framework of concepts within which proper animal models for studies of biologic mechanisms can be de veloped but also allows for consideration of the most apt treatment approaches.

Diseases of the Will
Diseases of the Will

Author: Mariana Valverde

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-10-28

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780521644693

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While associated with comfort and pleasure, alcohol has been and is a 'problem' substance, both for medical and political authorities and for many drinkers. In this broad-ranging and innovative historical-sociological investigation, Valverde explores the ways in which both authorities and individual consumers have defined and managed the pleasures and dangers of alcoholic beverages. The author explores the question of free will versus determinism and how it has been challenged by ideas about addiction, morality and psychology during the last 150 years. The book draws on sources from the US, UK, Canada and elsewhere, and covers topics including nineteenth century 'dipsomania', the history of inebriate homes, Alcoholics Anonymous, fetal alcohol education and liquor control. It will appeal to readers in legal studies, criminology, sociology, psychology, social theory and the history of medicine.

Disease Concept of Alcoholism
Disease Concept of Alcoholism

Author: E. M. Jellinek

Publisher: Martino Fine Books

Published: 2010-06

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9781578989362

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Reprint of 1960 Edition. Jellinek was the founder of the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies and several other research centers. Jellinek coined the expression "the disease concept of alcoholism," and significantly accelerated the movement towards the medicalization of drunkenness and alcohol habituation. This book was considered the most careful and penetrating analysis of its theme up to its time of publication. In 1960 he left Yale to develop work on alcoholism for the World Health Organization and other research centers concerned with the study of alcoholism. The Disease Concept of Alcoholism is now considered a classic work in the field.