Abstract
Alcoholism is one of the major problems in many communities around the world. Regardless of ethnicity and economic status, alcoholism can be problem that can affect the person’s finances in the event that alcoholism already requires rehabilitation or hospitalization if there is already a negative health effect. It was presented in the articles that ethnicity and religious belief can be the reason of either alcoholism or declining alcohol consumption. In the UK, it shows that Blacks and Asians are occasional drinkers, while Whites and Sikhs are the ones who frequently consume higher amounts of alcohol. In effect, alcoholism creates adverse outcomes in relation to work and family relationship. Thus, alcoholism is also related to some crimes in the community, which affect many people in terms of security. Based on the articles, alcoholism creates different negative outcomes that affect both the alcoholics themselves and the rest of the people in the community.
The problem with alcohol consumption is one of the community issues in many parts of the world. Different ages, across different ethnicity can be affected by one of the prevailing problems of the community. One of the articles that were written presented different community perceptions as well as attitudes in relation to alcoholism in their community. Heim et al. (2004) said that in the United Kingdom, alcoholism or just mere alcohol consumption is related to various problems of the communities and even attitude problems of consumers themselves.
The alcohol-related problems, such as the effects towards the alcohol consumers’ ability to work effectively and productively may have been happening for decades now. It was presented that alcoholism among different ethnicities in the United Kingdom has various levels of consumption and drinking patterns. It shows that there is a relatively low level of consumption among Blacks and Asians.
This affected the community in various ways. One is that the service provision of alcohol service providers was able to identify the different levels of alcohol consumption of various ethnicities. Additionally, the findings show that the Pakistani community has the lowest alcohol consumption, which positively affects their work and family relationship. On the other hand, it was found that Sikh men are among the regular alcohol consumers, who are at risk of having work-related problems.
The community responded through expressing their belief that too much alcohol consumption leads to various problems, more than just work-related and family-related issues. Based on the article, it shows that alcoholism is not just a simple health issue, but it holds potential negative effects to the community as a whole. Therefore, alcohol consumers must take time to think of these potential consequences and increase their awareness about how alcoholism can adversely affect their professional and family relationship.
An article written by Andrea Flynn and Samantha Wells (n.d.) presented another problem in relation to alcoholism. Based on the article, too much alcohol use was identified as one of the major risk factors that contribute to the development of chronic and acute health (Flynn & Wells, n.d.). Thus, such health issues produce various impacts to health, economic and social costs of individuals who are identified as alcoholics. Moreover, it was identified that alcoholism is also related to crimes in many communities. This problem has been in existence for many decades now. It is one of the main concerns of health authorities as alcohol dependence impacts the community in many ways. Some members of the community would have to suffer financial burden due to hospitalization and rehabilitation due to alcoholism.
In the event that problem has already occurred, such as economic and social problems, most families of the alcoholic persons are striving to help their family member in a way that the person will be brought to the rehabilitation center. In the event that there is a suspected alcohol-related crime, community member will report the incident to the authorities. The responses of the community members vary, as alcoholism is known to create different problems other than just health-related concerns.
These problems could be deterrent to every community member’s freedom from crime and health issues. It is essential that every member of the community knows what to do and how to act in the event that potential alcohol-related crime might occur. On the other hand, families must increase the awareness of their relative who may already have been an alcoholic. This is to prevent any further harm to the person’s health and also to save the family from financial costs of hospitalization.
References
Flynn, A., & Wells, S. (n.d.). Community Indicators: Assessing the Impact of Alcohol Use on Communities. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35(2). Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arcr352/135-149.htm
Heim, D., Hunter, S. C., Ross, A. J., Bakshi, N., Davies, J. B., Flatley, K. J., & Meer, N. (2004). Alcohol consumption, perception of community responses an attitudes to service provision: Results from a survey of Indian, Chinese and Pakistani young people in Greater Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 39(3), 220-226. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh042
