SOCIAL ROLE ENACTMENT AND THE ONSET, MAINTENANCE AND CESSATION OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE IN WOMEN

• Other Authors: LUNDY, COLLEEN.
• Format: Others
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/lib/digcoll/etd/3086188

This is a study of women, their social roles and their alcohol dependence. Using biographical interviewing, the lives of 50 female alcoholics are traced through the process of their alcohol dependency. Two groups of women are studied; those who have been alcohol free for at least one year and those who continue active drinking. The qualitative research approach is rooted in phenomenology and the human sciences. === The examination of social roles contributes to understanding the interaction of the women with their social environment and suggests that their alcohol dependence is attributable to their social situation. Two aspects of role enactment, role alteration/loss and role dissatisfaction were themes throughout the lives of these women. As children, the women frequently experienced an alteration in demands placed on them for role performance. The most startling finding in this report was the prevalence of child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, in this sample of women. During their childhood years the women reported much disruption within their homes and generally remembered a traumatic childhood. Parental conflict and alcoholism were common occurrences. As children, the women felt lonely, unloved and alienated within their families and the community. === Similar issues of role alteration, loss and dissatisfaction followed into adult life. The women most often cited a disruption in a partner relationship as precipitation to their problem drinking. Limited economic opportunities contributed to low education, high unemployment and the absence of meaningful work. The oppressive conditions faced by the women influence not only the onset and progression of their alcoholism but their opportunities for recovery as well. Most of the sober women entered the recovery process with little family support. Membership in the self help group, Alcoholics Anonymous was a distinctive feature of the women who had achieved sobriety in this study. === The findings pertaining to the social condition of the women indicate a response from a feminist perspective. These are not women who have innate psychological deficiencies that need fixing but women who are disadvantaged by society. They display incredible strength and resilience. === Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-10, Section: A, page: 3158. === Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.