FAMILIES UNDER FIRE: MANAGING AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM (DEVIANCE, HIDING, HELP-SEEKING).
Item
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Title
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FAMILIES UNDER FIRE: MANAGING AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM (DEVIANCE, HIDING, HELP-SEEKING).
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Identifier
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AAI8611362
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identifier
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8611362
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Creator
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MCGREAL, MAUREEN ANN.
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Contributor
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Lindsey Churchill
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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This is a study of the ways in which family members manage an alcohol problem. The crux of the work focusses on the characteristics of family patterns, in particular the features inherent in the techniques used to cope with the problem of alcoholism. As a result of this exploratory investigation, a general thesis emerges: Alcohol-affected families appear to follow a restorative mode approach to problem-solving which parallels the pattern found in our restitutive justice system. Thus it is argued that an established pattern (restorative mode) replicates an acknowledged cultural form (restitutive justice process). Features of the mode include tendencies to (1) maintain the status quo (2) return the situation to normal if equilibrium has been disturbed (3) repair the problem.;Two points arise as a result of this finding. One is that there seems to be an adaptable cultural pattern present in our society which is invoked and utilized in specific social situations as in the case of addictive illness or crime. The other point is that as a result of adoption of this procedure, a very intimate problem (alcoholism in the family) is managed by an external pattern which, by its very nature, shapes individual conduct.;While a function of the mode is to help keep families intact thus protecting the social value of familial accord, its overall effect on the families is a negative one. Thus it is described as a dysfunctional pattern. However, families are expected to adopt the pattern by significant and general others who use it as well. As a result, families find themselves in a "restorative bind," a position in which the solutions the culture provides are in themselves the problem.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
