Alcoholism
Alcoholism is an alcohol use disorder that is characterized by alcohol abuse and dependence. An individual is said to be alcoholic when he or she drinks copious amounts of alcohol for long periods of time, has difficulty cutting down on alcohol consumption, and is strongly addicted to alcohol. For most alcoholics, alcohol dependence takes up a lot of time, and its use can result in social and health problems, withdrawal symptoms, loss of control, tolerance, and other riskier situations ("Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse", n.d.). For most people, alcoholism is caused by environmental factors and genetics. An individual with parents or siblings that drink is more likely to take up the behavior. Social, cultural, behavioral and environmental influences also contribute to alcoholism. For other people, it is caused by high-stress levels, anxiety, affordability, and accessibility of bars and beer dens.
Two major theories that explain alcoholism include the differential association and labelling theory.
The differential association theory was generated by Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950) and states that through interaction with others, people learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for deviant behavior ("Differential Association Theory", 2016). Using differential association, we can infer that people learn the required skills to become alcoholics or not. In the article The Contextual Effect of School Attachment on Young Adolescents’ Alcohol Use by Henry and Slater (2007), students that have feelings of attachment to their learning institution are less likely to partake in delinquency and deviant behaviors such as alcoholism due to their positive attachment (Henry and Slater, 2007). When a student feels positively attached to their institution of learning, they internalize the values of that school and become committed to conventional academic and social endeavors, including attachment to their colleagues, teachers, and other school staff. These students become champions of pro-social norms. On the other hand, students that have little or no attachment to their schools become dysfunctional and disengaged from them and can take up deviant behaviours such as alcoholism (Henry and Slater, 2007). Without proper attachment to friends, colleagues, teachers, or staff members of the school, students lack proper guidance and adopt values that go against social norms. Some of these values such as alcoholism are internalized and later employed by such students.
The labelling theory rationalizes deviance as a social process where some individuals can define others as deviant. According to this theory, deviance is relative and only occurs when a label is given to someone by another person in a position of social power. Primary deviance is defined as behaviour that defies social norms but is temporary, trivial, or concealed from others. People that commit primary deviance don’t see themselves as deviant. Secondary deviance, on the other hand, involves deviant behaviour that is sustained over time. The person continues with his or her deviant behaviour despite being caught and labelled by a social entity ("Sociological Theories to Explain Deviance", n.d.). As applied to alcoholism, labelling theory postulates that being labelled as an alcoholic results in acceptance of self-labels and a self-fulfilling prophecy of alcoholism. In the article The Application of Labelling Theory to Alcoholism by Combs-Orme, Helzer, & Miller (1988), 349 alcoholics participated in research about the effect of labelling on alcoholism. These participants, who varied in the numbers of alcoholic labels that had been given to them by family members and friends, were later interviewed five to eight years later after being admitted to a treatment facility to check whether they were abstaining, drinking moderately, or drinking more heavily. The results confirmed that the strongest influence of all alcoholic labels was the total number of alcoholic issues. People that acknowledged fewer lifetime alcoholism issues were more likely to have moderate drinking.
I believe that alcoholism is mainly a product of differential association, given that most people that drink are introduced to this behavior by their peers and friends. It is more likely that most people drink to fit in social situations, rather than because they want to. Other individuals drink as a show of rebellious behavior and strong influence from social hippies. For most alcoholics, the behavior is acquired during teenage years or young adulthood. Later on in life, when they are settled and have families of their own, people quit these deviant behaviors and concentrate on raising their children.
References
Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. MedlinePlus. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alcoholismandalcoholabuse.html
Combs-Orme, T., Helzer, J., & Miller, R. (1988). The Application of Labeling Theory to Alcoholism. Journal Of Social Service Research, 11(2-3), 73-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j079v11n02_05
Differential Association Theory. (2016). Boundless. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/deviance-social-control-and-crime-7/the-symbolic-interactionalist-perspective-on-deviance-64/differential-association-theory-381-8939/
Henry, K. & Slater, M. (2007). The Contextual Effect of School Attachment on Young Adolescents' Alcohol Use. J School Health, 77(2), 67-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00169.x
Sociological Theories to Explain Deviance. Ww2.valdosta.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~klowney/devtheories.htm
