ALCOHOLISM AND SOCIETY

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 1962

Not intended as a popular presentation (cf. Albert Ullman's To Know the Difference, or Berton Roueche's aperitif- The Neutral Spirit- both 1960) this is a serious summation of the known findings, theories, and current therapeutic approaches to alcoholism with recommendations for their extension. The authors find that the etiology of alcoholism is far more complicated than Ullman's reduction of the problem to ""a way of handling a there is no single factor causality. They trace alcoholism in different cultures, many remote and uncivilized, and again find no one explanation of the variations in ethnic or national groups. They appraise briefly federal and state programs (there has been too much resistance- too little effected); public attitudes here and abroad (the U.S.S.R. tends to be as ""moralistic and punitive as we are""); various projects; AA which receives some sobering criticism- it ""expresses more interest in strengthening and perpetusting AA than in helping alcoholics""; and they discuss prevention at three levels from the control of the agent, alcohol, to ""early intervention... by medical and/or social means"" to physiological and psychological therapy. Dr. Chafetz is attached to the Alcoholic Clinic of Mass. General Hospital, Mr. Demone to Boston's Medical Foundation, and their book is chiefly designated toward a professional market- doctors, clinical case workers etc.

Pub Date: May 10, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION