Attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism, and the alcoholic—An exploratory study

Sot. Sci. & Med. 1968,

Vol. 2,pp. 29-39. Pergamon Press. Printed in Great Britain

ATTITUDES TOWARDS ALCOHOL, ALCOHOLISM, AND THE ALCOHOLIC-AN EXPLORATORY STUJlY* MAURICIO &UXNlERG,

M.D., F&~crs KORN,Lit. Sot., Cm and ALEJANDRO TARNOPOLSKY,M.D.

E. SLUZIU,M.D.

"G.AraozAlfaro" Hospital, Lam& Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina Ma&act-Epidemiological surveys and attitudinal studies form a two-fold strategy to explore so&-cultural incidence on the pathogcneais of chronic alcoholism. In this a#tudinal study different populations are distiquished in terms of their norms and values towards beverages, alcoholic subjects, and alcoholism as an abstract concept. Some explanatory h~thcaes. wnceming area and class valuea, and their probable relation with alcoholic prevalence. are hare suggested.

ATITEJDEstudies enable us to investigate the amount and the direction of environmental influence in the determination of certain psychopathologic entities. At the same time, they have a contribution to make in the choice of the best strategy by which to approach the “average” subject when planning a field study in depth on certain issues, (a) The first holds true-in so far as it is considered a psychiatric ilhres&for alcoholism, a condition for which the importance of the correlation between environmental attitudes and prevalence indexes has always been stressed [l], even though the amount of such correlation has not been evaluated so far. An unavoidable prerequisite for such studies is the field survey of ‘alcohol subculture’, that is, the system of cultural norms and attitudes towards drinkkg habits. Most authors agree in considering that beverage ingestion, in chronic alcoholics, is related to physical dependance to ethanol, but this dependance appears after a long period of excessive drinking, a habit strongly linked to socio-cultural values and norms [2]. Epidemiologic studies made in Chile [3] which have shown a positive correlation between prevalence of alcoholics and prevalence of excessive drinkers lead to the authors of those surveys to investigate what is known as “alcoholic subculture”, mainly at&u&s towards alcohol [4]. Starting, in this paper, from the opposite end-i.e., studying attitudes before studying epidemiologic distribution-diBerent population areas are character&d in terms of the distribution of ‘prohibitive-permissive’ attitudes towards drink@ and ‘pejoratiw understanding’ attitudes towards alcoholism and the alcoholic. A second step (of epidemiologic research) now in process, will study the extent to which these different attitudes are linked with the prevalence of alcoholics and psychiatric conditions alliedto alcohol-data which in turn will lay the foundation for a more precise body of hypotheses. *Thisstudy was supported by a smrjl grant from the (Argentine) Institute National de Salud Mental and another, for the data processing stage, from the Foundations’ Fund for Research in Psychiatry, adminiatrated by the Pan American Health Organization. 29

30

MAURICIO GOLDENBERO,FRANCISKORN, CARLOSE. SLUZKIand ALWANDRO

TARNOPOUKY

(b) The approach strategy for further studies can be simultaneously clarified by limiting these issues against which the interviewed population shows strongest and weakest rejection, the degree of awareness in relation tocertain problems, and the preconceptions with which the issues in question are conceptualized. This exploratory study was phumed and carried out as a fust approach to the question of attitudes (i.e., the environmental norms) concerning alcoholic beverages, alcoholism and the alcoholic. For the sake of brevity, we shall not discuss the operational definitions worked out for each variable and the instructions, approach techniques, pilot tests, etc. The problems related to questionnaire techniques through personal interviews for the assessment of, alcoholism has been widely discussed by previous workers [S-7]. We shall only make some brief comments on the questionnaire and the characteristics of the sample. The questionnaire was designed to obtain an attitude profile concerning alcohol, alcoholism, and the alcoholic, as well as to assess the intake of alcoholic beverages. The interviewer can complete it in about 40 min, in the course of a single home visit. It consists of three sections. The first, iuhtzjkation of the subject, includes demographic variables. The second, the exploration of attitudes, contains questions aimed at detecting ideas about the causes of alcoholism, the image of the alcoholic and value judgments about him, the degree of awareness as to the importance of the problem, i&as about the therapeutic procedure, and whether or not there is an alcoholic in the family. These twenty-six questions were planned so that contradictory data could be detected and discarded. The third section is designed to explore the amount of habitual intake. Concerning the characteristics of the interviewed population, as this is fundamentally a descriptive-+xploratory study we were mainly interested in working with a group in which the attitudes concerning alcohol and the general characteristics of alcoholism were, up to a point, known to us. Therefore, in our sample we distinguished three groups of individuals, one urban (Buenos Aires city) and two suburban (La& and Greater Buenos Aires other than Lanus). As may be seen in Table 1, class structure in La&s is not similar to that in Buenos Aires; this difference reflects general demographic characteristics of their respective population: (i) those living in the Lanti area, a densely populated, mainly labor-class suburb of Buenos Aires where our Hospital is placed; (ii) those living in the city of Buenos Aires with a larger middle class; (iii) those living in suburban areas of Greater Buenos Aires, but not in Lads. The last group was matched according to certain characteristics of the La&s group, thus providing comparison between La& and an urban, and another matched suburban sample. The sampling process involved two stages, one centered upon the areas and the other on the individuals, the number and characteristics of which appear in Table 1. TABLJI 1. ~MPOSlTIONOPTHBSMlPLE

Interviewed Subjects Greater Buenos Aires (other than Lamis)

Laniw

Buenos Aims

Total

City

W

(%)

W)

(%)

W)

(%)

W)

(%)

Middle class Lower class

8 52

13.3 86.6 99.9

18 22 40

45 55 100

25.9 74-l

60

26 74 100

39 111

Total

13 37 50

Attitudes towards Alcohol, Alcoholism, and the Alcoholic

31

The obtained sample did not show significant differences as regards the percentage of both sexes in the different areas (cf. Table 2), nor did the distribution of sexes by class and by area show any signifuzative differences. The meaning of the distribution of men and women in the Lanus area will be discussed later. TABLE2. SEXDISIWBUTION, Men Lalw Greater Buenos Aires Buenos Aires

42

BY ARJSA

Women 58

44 50

(%I

(N)

100

60

100 loo

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Conceptualization of the problem On the basis of the material obtained from the opinion survey, three types of attitudes have to be considered: (1) towards alcohol, (2) towards the alcoholic, and (3) towardsalcoholism. With this exploratory study we intended above all to detect certain general trends, as well as to establish whether the area or the social class is a relevant factor in the determination of differential attitudes. Among attitudes towards alcohol, closest consideration was given to prohibitionpermissiveness, as well as to the inference of ‘danger awareness’ drawn from it. The information was obtained through the answers to questions concerning the harmftiess of alcoholic beverages: whether they are beneficial or harmful from the point of view

32

MAURICIOGOLDIWBLUW, FRANCIS KORN. CARLOSE. SLUZIUand AUJANDRO

TARNOPOUKY

TABLE 3. “khRMFULNES.9 OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERADES”, BY AREA

None

YeS if excessive amounts

40.5 467 70.8

lamb Grenter Buenos Aires Buenos Aires

26.2 16.7 12.5

Some

Don’t know

(%)

(N)

19.0 30.0 12.5

11.9 6.7 4.2

97.6 loo.1 100

42 30 24

Questioned as to the beneficial or harmful effect of alcoholic drinks on health, the majority made their answers dependent upon the quantity and the quality of the drinks (34 and 30 per cent, respectively). Defining the attitude towards alcohol on the basis of the age at which a person can begin to &ink aZcoholic beverages, we found a surprising permissiveness towards alcohol, with 62 per cent of the answers, “under 12 years of age” (cf. Table 4). In agreement with the answers on harmfulness of alcoholic beverages, La&s is the area that sets the latest minimum age: 51 per cent of “under 12 years of age” answers, against 71 per cent in Buenos Aires (x2-2.91, p
LanQ Greater Buenos &es Buenos Aima

A CHILD CAN BHt3lNTO DRINKWlNB”, BY AREA

13 or over

O-3 Yea=

4& yaam

7-9 Yee=

IO-12 ysars

Other answers (%)

11.7

15.0

11.7

13.3

26.7

21.7

loo.1

(60)

16.3 17.5

24.5 12.5

12.2 12.5

18.4 30.0

16.3 15.0

12.2 125

99.9 loo

g;

(W

Approaching the problem in terms of social class the data showed the following pattern: among the middle class the percentage of permissive individuals is higher (x2=199; p
Middle class Lower class

years

33.4 31.9

7-12 years

130rmore

38.4 29.1

15.4 21.8

(N) 39 110

We endeavoured to assess the so called normal or acceptable quantity a person may drink per day; this will be referred to as ‘theoretical or i&al intake’. From hereon we shall refer to the answers involving wine only, as the data obtained show that this is by far the most popular alcoholic beverage. The majority were equally divided between “a quarter to half a litre daily” (approximately +l pint) and “half to one litre daily” (approximately l-2 pints), (38 and 38 per cent). No differences were found for this item between the three groups. We were interested in comparing the figures that were considered nornrui ri/rilv intake (“theoretical intake’*) with the akily actual intake established by the same subjects. The

33

Attitudes towards Alcohol, Alcoholism. and the Alcoholic

comparison shows that, for average quantities (h-1 I.), the theoretical intake is similar to the actual intake. For smaller quantities, more subjects consider them theoretical rather than actual figures of ingestion. For greater quantities more subjects consider them to be the actual figures rather than a recommendable normal (theoretical) amount (cf. Table 6). From the point of view of the areas, there is virtually no difference: all show the same tendency. TABLE6. QUANTI~CON~SD~R~DNORMALVS.ACNALINTAKE(INLI~)

None* “Normal” quantity Stated intake

Small less than t

0 10

Medium

13 10

brgc

H

t-1

1 or more

(N)

(%)

38 21

38 37

6 21

134 134

100 99

*This column refers to the 10 per cent of the sample who answered that they did not drink at all (“teetotalers”); none of the sample answered “none” when asked what they felt the normal intake should be.

Concerning the alcoholic beverages that are consumed in greatest quantities, it was found that 78 per cent
Wine Without alcohol

No

YCS

Don’t know

W

(%I

30.2

67.7

2.1

96

23-l

69-2

7.7

13

i

No

Yss

~~~

100

72.5

78.3

66.7

100

7.5 100% -40

IO.8 1100% =a3

33.7 100% =3

Drink less on week-ends

(A’)

(%)

0

60

TABLE8. DIWRIBUTION OF THE

Drink more on week-ends Lamis Greater Buenos Aires Buenos Aires

IS

34.7 41-o

INTAKB

OVZR THE WEEK.

Drink the same on the 7 days

Teetotalers

78-3 59.2 48.7

6.7 2-o 10.3

BY AREA

41

0

100

49

100

39

100

34

MAURICIO GOLDENBBRO,FRANCISKORN, CAIUO~ E. SLUZK~ and ALEJANDROTARNO~OL~KY

Attitudes towards the alcoholic

In answer to a request for a spontaneous description of an alcoholic, the majority of the subjects (44 per cent) gave a pejorative image in every area, though in Lantis the trend was slightly less marked than in Buenos Aires. We tried to establish the opinion concerning the degree to which an alcoholic dependr on alcohol: 45 per cent of the subjects answered that an alcoholic does not stop drinking because “he can’t”, and 36 per cent thought it was because “he doesn’t want to”. However, the answers to the question “What is alcoholism?” (with closed answers) showed that the majority considered it a vice; fewer subjects answered it was an illness, which is in agreement with the greater incidence of pejorative spontaneous descriptions of the alcoholic, already mentioned. Still, the answers in Buenos Aires tend to stress its pathologic nature (cf. Table 9). TABLE 9. hWERS

Lank? Greator Bwnoa Aires Buenos Aires Totala

TO Tlls QUEsTION.“WHAT Is ALCOHOLlsM?“,BY AREA

Vice

Habit

Ilble3s

66.7 81.6 57.5 69-O

13.3 12-2 10-O 12-O

6.7 200 8-O

Spiritual weakness

W)

(%I

13.3 6.1 10.0 10.0

60 49 40 149

100 99-9 100 100

Concerning the image of the causes of alcoholism, 70 per cent of the subjects pointed out the existence of some cause and 22 per cent thought of it as a vice-as a cause in itself--or gave clearly pejorative answers, without considering the possibility of any cause. Classifying the opinions about causes under two main headings, “pejorative” (critical or seeing it as wilful) and “understandmg”, the percentage of answers under both labels is similar. But if we draw causal inferences from the subjects’ spontaneous .descriptions of the alcoholic, the “understanding’* opinions are markedly reduced and the “pejorative” ones increased (cf. Table 10). The existence of a more understanding attitude towards alcoholism (as an abstract concept) than towards the alcoholic is illustrated in other tables as well. TABLE 10. COMPAREWNSOF ANSWERSTO “CAUSEOP ALCOHOLISM”AND “PROFILE OF lIS AtCOHOLIC”

“Pejorative” answers “I_hderstandiag” answers

Causes of

Profile of

alcoholism

the alcoholic

45

12 14 1oo%=q117)

Since 15.7 per cent of the subjects acknowledged having an alcoholic in their family, we compared the answers to the questions on the ‘causes of alcoholism’ in the ‘alcoholic relatives’ group with those of the ‘no alcoholic relatives’ group, assuming that the former would have both more definite ideas and a more understanding attitude. The first hypothesis was verified (x2-451, p ~035); the second was not contirmed (x2=0*5, p ~0.6) (cf. Table 11). Assuming that those who offer a less pejorative image of the alcoholic are more permissive

35

Attitudes towards Alcohol, Alcoholism, and the Alcoholic TABLE 11. “CAUSES OF ALCOHOLISM” ACCONXNG TO’SUIUECTS WITH AND WmOUT

--..-__ Alcoholics in the family No alcoholics in the family

Pejorative opinion

----

Understanding opinion

ALCOHOLIC Rt%AllVtS

Ambiguous (no definite opinion)

(NJ

(%)

50

50

0

20

100

47

34

19

127

100

as regards minimum age to start drinking, we compared both types of answers and found that the tendency was in that direction (x2= l-91, p c @20),though both groups are permissive (cf. Table 12). TABLE 12. “MINIMUM AGETOSTARTDRINKINO”. ACCORDING THED-ON

OF

THE ALCOHOLIC

Ye=s

7-l 2 Years

12 or le8s

(NJ

(ti

28.8

30.3

59.1

40.9

66

100

42.1

26.3

68.4

31.6

38

100

o-6

Pejorative description Non-pejorative description

12 or more

On the assumption that those who think that “anybody can become an alcoholic” will have a more pejorative image of the alcoholic than those who consider that “not everybody can become an alcoholic**,we crossed both variables and found that the tendency was in that direction (x2=2-58, p ~0.15). (cf. Table 13). TABLE 13. DESCRIPTION OF THE A~~IH~LI~. ACCORDING TO OPINION w TO WHETS&R ANYBODYCANOBT?OBEONE

Pejorative

Understanding

Ambiguour + don’tknow

(NJ

(%I

48~5

19.1

32.4

68

100

37.9

30.3

31.8

68

loo

Anybody can gst to be one Not everybody can get to be one

-

Attitudes toward alcoholism

Over SOper cent of the interviewed population considered alcoholism to be %n important problem in our country”, whereas 27 per cent thought it is not so. and 17 per cent gave vague and ambiguous answers. The majority of the latter corresponded to the Lanus area (cf. Table 14). TABLE 14. “I~RTANCE

OF na

Asa problem Limb Buenos Aires Totals (incl. GBA)

52 46 55

pR0~m

0~ ~mxioLMlr(“.

BY Am3~

Notasa problem

Inde6nite

(NJ

(%I

z 27

25 7 17

59 39 ‘148

99 99 99

36

MAURICIOGOLDENRSRO,

FRANCISKORN, CARID E. SLUZKIand ALEJANDRO TARNOPOLSKY

Concerning the possible solutions suggested by.those who considered alcoholism a problem, there was a slight predominance of answers with solutions of the ‘understanding’ type (sanitary control, medical treatment, education, socio-economic improvements) over those that favor ‘restrictive’ measures (prohibition to sell alcohol, fines or punishment for the alcoholics, etc.) (cf. Table 15). Preferred type of solution was also crossed by social class (x2=1GO; p ~0.5) (cf. Table 16). .

TABLE 15. “TYPESI OFSOLUTIONS FORTHB PROBLEM'*.BY AREA Understanding Restrictive

Lamis Buenos Aires Totals (incl. GBA)

(“/.)

.

solutions

solutions

(W

(%)

41 33 37

37 54 42

46 24 114

100 100 100

TABLE 16. “TYP@S0PSOLUTI0NSF0RTHRPR0BLEM0FALC0Ii0LISM",CROSSED cLASSc%I

Restrictive SOlUtiOIIS

Middle class Lower class

29 41

Understanding solutions 52 41

WlTH SOCIAL

(N) 31 83

(“%) ‘100 100

DLSCUSSION

At first sight the data allow us to distinguish, by their respective attitudes, the areas of Lanus and Buenos Aires; this opens an interesting starting point for the survey of prevalence of alcoholism and allied psychiatric conditions. Compared to Buenos Aires, the Lantis area appeared to be more conscious of the danger of alcohol and, subsequently, more restrictive of it; Lanus allowed the drinking of alcoholic beverages before adolescence in less proportion. At the same time, Lam& condemned alcoholics in greater proportion than the Buenos Aires sample; it also considered in greater proportion that alcoholism was “a national problem” and tended to restrictive or punitive solutions. On the other hand, lower social strata was characterized, throughout the sample, by a lower permissiveness of alcohol and a greater tendency to punitive solutions, than was found among the middle class. The similar profile in the Lanus area and lower class, and the structure of the sample (predominancy of lower strata in La&, less difference between middle and lower class in Buenos Aires) allowed us to regard the described attitudes as class values. Before going further we should remember that our sample showed no sign&ant differences in sex distribution. Nevertheless, as we were interested in finding out whether the proportion of women in La& could be linked with Lantis’ emphasis on restrictivenesss, we crossed different attitudinal items per sex, throughout the sample. Although rough figures seemed to indicate a restrictive tendency among the females, this movement was of no signillcance for our data (cf. Table 17). (x2=0.84; p ~0.7). Approaching again the problem in terms of social class, the hypothesis was that permissiveness concerning alcoholic intake would be inversely associated with the degree to which alcoholism was considered a problem in each class. The data ten&d to follow this pattern. In the lower so&-economic strata the proportion of “permissive” individuals was smaller ;

Attitudes towards Alcohol, Alcoholism, and the Alcoholic

37

TABLE 17.

Men Women

None

Yes, if excessive amount

Some

56 46

13 26

24 18

Don’t know

7 10

(N)

(%)

45 50

100 100

at the same time there was a relatively greater proportion of lower class individuals who advocated “restrictive measures” as a solution for the problem of alcoholism. “Prohibition” and “pun&ion” appeared linked to “awareness of alcoholic harmfulness”. We think it justified to assume that alcoholism is presented as a “problem” where the intake is greater, (that is, where we can also suppose it is tolerated as a problem): we are not yet in possession of the data necessary to infer the prevalence of alcoholism in each class*, but it is important to stress that we observed that the ‘alcoholic relatives group’ did not show a statistically sign&ant more understanding attitude than the general population. These facts could be tentatively interpreted as follows: both the restrictive measures to fight alcoholism and the pejorative attitude towards the alcoholic would be linked to an over-all attitude of the authoritarian type-concerning the relationship man-alcohol-in the group where alcoholism is viewed as a problem; This conclusion is consistent with the conceptualization of alcoholism in terms of “habit or illness” derived from the answers in each social layer. In the lower class there is a greater proportion of individuals for whom alcoholism is a habit, and in the middle class there is a higher proportion of individuals who think of it as an illness. The ‘habit’ attitude reveals an authoritarian type. It can be understood in the sense that it belongs to the same core that leads to little permissiveness and the support of restrictive measures as a solution for the problem of gcoholism. In this exploratory study it was impossible to verify these hypotheses by means of.multivariate analysis. The distribution analysis of each variable in each social class did not contradict our hypotheses on the relationship of class to attitude. REFERENCES 1. JELLINEK,E. M. The Disease Concept of Alcoholism. The Hillhouse Press, New Haven, 1960. 2. MARCONI,J. The concept of alcoholism. Quart. L Stud. MC., 20,216,1959. 3. MARCONI,J. et al. A survey on the prevalence of alcoholism among the adult population of a suburb of Santiago. Quart. J. Stud. Ale., 16,438, 1955. 4. Ho~wrrz, J. y MARCONI,J. Estudios epidemiologicos y sociol6gicos acerca de la salud mental en Chile. Comunicaci6n preliminar. Acta psiquiat. psicol. Am. Lat.. XI& 52, 1967. 5. FIELD,P. B. A new cross cultural study of drunkenness, in: m, D. J. and SNYDBR,Ch. R. (editors) : Society, culture, and drinking pattern. Wiley, New York, 1962. 6. Mm, M. A. Drinking behaviour in the state of Washington. Quart. J. Stud. NC., 13,219, 1952. 7. MEI~ORD,H. and Mm, D. Drinking in Iowa: I. Sociocultural distribution of drinkers, wi@a methodological model of sampling evaluation and interpretation of findings. Quart. 1. Stud. Ale., 20, 704, 1959. 8. Institute National de Salud Mental (Reptiblica Argentina): Programa national de Investigaci6n en epidemiologla psiquitarica; not published. (Received 18 JuIy 1966; in revised form 22 May 1967) *Preliminary data obtained in a recent epidemiological study made by the (Argentine) National Institute of Mental Health in an area of Buenos Aires city with a socio-cultural composition similar to the one studied here showed a prevalence of chronic alcoholism of 5.11 per cent [8].

38

MA~~~~~~GoLDENBBR~,FRANCISKORN.CARUX

@.SLUZKI andALa.t~rm~o

TARNOPOISKY

B&mm&Cet expose souligw l’importance des etudes d’attitudea, et de leur but double: (a) elles nous permettent d’ttablir des hypotheses pathog6niques sur l’influence du milieu SW l’incidence de l’alcoolisme; (b) elles aident B choisir la strategic d’approche la plus commode pour des etudes sur place futures, &ant donnt qu’elles indiquent les questions qui provoquent le plus s’acceptation ou de refus. Les aspecta et rcsultats methodologiques d’une etude descriptive d’exploration, sur une population divis6e d’aprts la classe (inferieure et moyenne) et la region (Lam& d’autres parties de la banliew de Buenos Aires et de la ville de Buenos Aires) sent discutes. Lea attitudes examinees se rapportent a trois sujets: l’alcool (toleration/prohibition), l’alcooliqw (p@oratif/comprChensif) et l’alcoolisme (restrictif/comprehensif). (1) Au sujet de l’alcool. les traits les plus frappants retires de lXchantillonnage furent: une grande proportion de consommation habituelle de vin, distribuee egalement sur lea sept jours de le semaine. L’Bge minimum auqwl. selon les opinions obtenws, uns personne peut commencer B boire est extr&nement baa. La consommation journaliere “id&ale*’ ou th6orique variait de 250 cc. B 1 litre. La consommation de fait par t&e (ad&es) etait l@&ement plus elevee que la consommation Woriqw. L’image du “danger de l’attachement” s’attachant au vin est trts r&i&e. (2) En ce qui conceme l’alcooliqw. l’image obtenue etait pejorative dune facon dominants. L’alcoohsme en g&&al Wit consider6 comma un vice. Cependant, plus de sujeta pemaient qw Palcooliqw ne s’arr&e pas de boire parce qua “il w le peut pas” plut6t qw parceqw “iI ne le veut pas”. L’alcoohsme en tant qw concept abstrait provoque une attitude plus compr6hensive qw ne le fait l’alcoolique en tant qu’individu concret. Lea sujets ayant des alcooliquee dans leur famille faisaient preuve d’id6es plus d&ties, mais ne faisaient pas preuve dune attitude plus comprehensive. (3) En ce qui conceme l’alcoolisme, plus de 50% des personnes interviswcas le consi#raient comme un probl&me important darts notre pays et sug@rent des solutions dune nature “comprehensive”. formant un contraste avec d’autres d’une nature plus “r&rictive*‘. Les variabb obtenues sent en corr6lation entre ellee. et avec la classe sociale et la region de l’habitation des peraonnea interviewees. Queiques hypotheses explicatives relatives aux r&ultats de cette 6tude sent suggWes. BumarM-Este trabajo subraya la importancia de 10s estudios de attitudes y de su doble objeto: (a) nos permiten elaborar hip6tesis patog&cas sobre la inftwncia de1 ambiente en la incidencia del alcoholiio; (b) ayudan a decidir la estrategia m&t conveniente para emprender estudios de camp0 futuros, ya que seftalan cuales son las preguntas que provocan una mayor aceptackm o rechaxamiento. Se discuten 10s aspectos metodol@icos y 10s resultados de un estudio deacriptivo exploratorio llevado a cabo en una poblaci6n dividida en t&minos de claw (baja y media) y de xona (Lam& otras partea del extraradii da Buenos Aires, y la ciudad de Buenos Aires). Las attitudes bajo inveatigaci6n se retleren a trea puntos : el alcohol (tolerancia/prohibici6n) ; cl alcoholiido (despectivo/comprensSm), y cl alcoholismo (restrictivo/comprensi6n). (1) En10 que concieme al alcohol, 10s puntos m6s saiientes que se encontraron en la muestra estudii fwron: una alta proporci6n de ingeati6n habitual de vine. diitribulda igualmente entre Los siete dfas de la semana; segtin ias opiniones conseguidas, la edad mlnima en qw una persona pwde comenxar a beber es sumamen te baja. El “ideal” diario o cantidad te6rica oscilb entre 250 cm3 y un litro. El consume real por persona (entre adultos) fUe ligeramente superior al tebrico. La imagen de1 “peligro de hacerse un ad&o” que se da al vino es muy baja. (2) En lo qw se retfern al alcohohxado, la imagen obtenida fue predominantemente despectiva. El alcoholismo se consideraba en general un vicio. No obstante. m&s personas Cretan qw el alcoholixado no cesa de beber poqw “no puede” que porqw “no quiere”. El alcoholismo coma concepto abstract0 evoca una actitud rn& comprensiva que la qw se tiene hacia et alcoholixado coma individuo concruto. Los entrevistados que tenlan familiares alcoholixados mostraron unas ideas mb detlnidas, pero no una actitud m&s comprensiva. (3) En lo qw toca al alcoholismo, m&s del 50 por ciento de Los entrevistados consideraron qw era un problema importante en nuestro paia, y sugirieron soluciones de naturalera “comprensiva”. en contraste con otras soluciones de tipo m&s “restrictive”. Las variables conseguidas se correlacionaron entre sl y con la clase social y zona residential de las personas entrevistadas. SC sugioren algunas hip6tesis explicativas de 10s resultados de este estudio. Abhandlung betont die Bedeutung von Binstellungsstudien ZIUbUMKdaaamg-Diese und ihren zweifachen Zweck: (a) sie erm6glichen uns, pathogenetische Hypothesen uber Umgebungseinfltksse auf das AuRreten von Alkoholismus aufzustellen; (b) sie helfen uns

Attitudes towards Alcohol, Alcoholism,

and the Alcoholic

bei der Wahl der geeignetsten Angriffsstrategie ftir zukunftige praktische Studien, di sie die Angelpunkte, welche die grosste Aufnahme und Ablehnung ans Licht bringen, hervorheben. Die methodologischen Aspekte und Resultate einer beschreibenden Forschungsstudie, bei welchcr die Bsvolkerung auf Grund der sozialschicht (Arbeiter- und Mittelschicht) und Gebietc (Lanirs, andere Teile der Umgebung von Buenos Aires und der Stadt Buenos Aires) eingeteilt wird, werden besprochen. Die untersuchten Einstellungen beziehen sich auf drei Punkte: Alkohol (erlaubtlverboten), der Alkoholiker (pejorativ/verst!htdnisvoll) und Alkoholismus (eingeschr&nkt/verstiindnisvoll). (1) Was den Alkohol betrifft, so war das in der Erhebungsauswahl gefundene auffallendste Mcrkmal folgendes ; ein grosser Anteil von gewohnheitsm&sigem, gleichm&ssig auf die sieben Tage der Woche aufgeteiltem Weinstrinken. Das Mindestalter, N welchem nach den g&usserten Ansichten ein Mensch zu trinken beginnen kann, ist lusserst niedrig, Die tilgliche “ideale” oder theoretische Getriinksaufnahme bewegt sich zwischen 250 ccm und 1 Liter. Die tats&hliche Aufnahme pro Kopf (bei Erwachsenen) war etwas h&her als die theoretische. Das Vorstellungsbild ftlr “Tntnksuchtgefahr” bei Wein ist sehr gering. (2) Was den Alkoholiker betritft, so war das erteilte Vorstellungsbild vorwiegend pejorativ. Im allgemeinen wurde Alkoholismus ala ein Laster angcsehen. Allerdings glaubten mehrere Versuchspersonen, dass der Alkoholiker nicht zu trinken aufhort, weil er “nicht kann”, sondem weil er “nicht will”. Ah abstrakte Vomtellung bringt Alkoholismus eine verst&ndnisvollere Einstelhmg als die zu dem Alkoholiker als konkretes Wesen hervor. Die Versuchspersonen, welche Alkoholiker in der Familie hatten, iiusserten definitiverc Ansichten, zeigten jedoch keine vemtiindnisvollere Einstellung. (3) Den Alkoholismus betreffend hielten ihn Uber 50 Prozent der Befragten fth ein bedeutsames Problem in unserem Lande und schlugen im Gegensatz zu anderen mehr “einschr&nkenden” Typen L&ungen “verst&ndnisvollcrer*~ Natur var. Die erziehen Unterschiede werden im 2 usammenhang mit einander und mit den Sozialschichten und Wohngebieten der befragten Personen gebracht. Einige erkliirende Hypothesen Uber die Rest&ate dieser Studie wcrden vorgeschlagen.

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