Contributor
Bennett, Linda A.
Imprint:New York : Plenum Press, c1985.
Descriptionxxiv, 490 p. ; 24 cm.
Note:I. THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK: 1. Alcohol belief systems in a culturally pluralistic society: an introduction / Linda A. Bennett, Genevieve M. Ames -- 2. Alcoholism: illness or disease? / Noel J. Chrisman -- 3. American beliefs about alcoholism: historical perspectives on the medical-moral controversy / Genevieve M. Ames -- 4. Getting on the program: a biocultural analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous / Miriam B. Rodin -- II. CASE STUDIES: AMERICANS OF EUROPEAN HERITAGE: 5. Acculturated Italian-American drinking behavior / Ben James Simboli -- 6. Polish-American drinking continuity and change / Paul J. Freund -- 7. Jewish Americans and alcohol: processes of avoidance and definition / Barry Glassner, Bruce Berg -- 8. Historical meanings of Irish-American drinking / Richard Stivers -- 9. Appalachia: the effects of cultural values on the production and consumption of alcohol / Grace Toney Edwards -- III. CASE STUDIES: BLACK AMERICANS: 10. Ambiguity in black drinking norms: an ethnohistorical interpretation / Denise Herd -- 11. Alcohol: cultural conceptions and social behavior among urban blacks / Atwood D. Gaines -- IV. CASE STUDIES: AMERICAN INDIANS: 12. Indians, ethnicity, and alcohol: contrasting perceptions of the ethnic self and alcohol use / Joan Weibel-Orlando -- 13. Navajo "alcoholism": drinking, alcohol abuse, and treatment in a changing cultural environment / Martin D. Topper -- V. CASE STUDIES: SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATIONS: 14. Mexican-Americans in California: intracultural variation in attitudes and behavior related to alcohol / M. Jean Gilbert -- 15. Mexican-American experience with alcohol: South Texas examples / Robert T. Trotter II -- 16. Alcohol and hispanics in the northeast: a study of cultural variability and adaptation in alcohol use / Andrew J. Gordon -- 17. Alcohol and adaptation to exile in Miami's Cuban population / J. Bryan Page, Lucy Rio, Jacqueline Sweeney, Carolyn McKay -- VI. CASE STUDIES: ASIAN GROUPS: 18. Japanese-American drinking patterns / Harry H.L. Kitano, Herb Hatanaka, Wai-tsang Yeung, Stanley Sue -- 19. Alcohol consumption among Chinese in the United States / Harry H.L. Kitano, Herb Hatanaka, Wai-tsang Yeung, Stanley Sue -- 20. Hmong drinking practices in the United States: the influence of migration / Joseph Westermeyer -- VII. CASE STUDIES: RELIGION AND FAMILY: 21. Irish-American catholics in a west coast metropolitan area / Joan Ablon -- 22. Alcohol writ accountable: the Episcopal diocese of Washington, D.C. / Linda A. Bennett -- 23. Middle-class protestants: alcohol and the family / Genevieve M. Ames -- VIII. SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION: 24. American experience with alcohol: commonalities and contrasts / Dwight B. Heath.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographies and index.
Note:Each of the 29 original papers in this volume describes meanings, values, norms, and behaviors that are associated with alcohol use among different populations, some of which have been heretofore relatively neglected in terms of both ethnography and alcohol studies. Among those groups analyzed are Navajo Indians, urban blacks, rural Appalachians, Jews, Hmong, and "hyphenated" Americans (e.g., Italian, Polish, Irish, Chinese, Japanese). An unusual paper by M. Rodin links physiological, psychological, and cultural perspectives to explain how and why members of Alcoholics Anonymous revise their life stories in patterned ways. Each chapter includes new data on other aspects of alcohol use in sociocultural perspective. Most authors take special pains to mention ways in which such understanding can be helpful in preventing or treating alcohol-related problems. This well-rounded and well-written collection of essays shows how a single substance (ethanol) is given many meanings within a single nation, and how those meanings often result in very different short-term and long-term effects of the substance on people. At a time when so much public attention is focused on alcohol, it is refreshing to have some new information that underscores the importance of social and cultural factors. This is also an interesting window on some realities of ethnic pluralism that have not long been recognized, and on the practical necessity of attending to cultural differences in the interest of public policies. -- from Choice Reviews
