A Concept Analysis of Alcoholic Denial and Cultural Accounts

Abstract

Accounts are statements offered by individuals when explaining questionable behavior. Cultures vary in the kinds of accounts they honor, and individuals who deny a problem with alcohol may be attempting to maintain congruence between self and culture. Within this context, health care professionals who challenge a patient's denial may be causing unnecessary harm. The author presents a concept analysis of alcoholic denial in relation to the concept of accounts to explicate cultural variations in the manifestation of denial. The author integrates findings of her own and others' research to advance an understanding of alcoholic denial and cultural accounts.

Coming to Terms With Reality: Predictors of Self-deception Within Substance Abuse Recovery

“…Cultural differences between groups may provide one feasible explanation for the outcomes obtained in the present study. Wing 48 argued that what might be viewed as alcoholic denial within a subculture may actually serve to sustain congruence between an addict and his or her culture. Lalwani et al 35 suggested that people from more collectivist cultures engage in self-deception to maintain positive relationships with others, whereas individuals from culture that promote individualistic aspect seek self-honesty.…”

A Comparison of Traditional Folk Healing Concepts With Contemporary Healing Concepts

“…It is what people do when they are ill, as compared with what they should do as determined by a set of social standards (O'Connor, 1995;Wing, 1996). Leininger (1991) theorized that all cultures in the world have had a lay health care system, whether it be described as folk, indigenous, or generic.…”

“…1 found much support for this conviction in my studies of alcoholism in several cultures. Native Americans and Hispanics perceived alcoholism as an unnatural illness placed on a victim by an evildoer or witch because of envy (Wing, 1996;Wing, Crow, & Thompson, 1995).…”

“…One has little responsibility or control in preventing unnatural illness. However, this argument only goes so far because many cultures believe that, if one has been spiritually fit, unnatural illness would not have occurred (Wing, 1996). Therefore, in both natural and unnatural illness, the individual maintains an aspect of responsibility and self-care.…”

Denegação do alcoolismo nos subtipos I e II de Cloninger

“…Para Shaffer e Simoneau (2001), a denegação do alcoolismo emerge perante a dor psíquica resultante da ambivalência, a qual reforça a resistência e conduz o dependente do álcool a optar pelo lado menos doloroso do seu conflito. Wing (1996), avança com a hipótese de que a denegação do alcoolismo poderá representar a tentativa de manter a congruência entre o self e o contexto cultural. O autor, desenvolveu um modelo de progressão da denegação da doença alcoólica constituído por cinco estágios, os quais, invariavelmente, terão que ser percorridos, para ultrapassar o fenómeno da denegação: (1) reacção ao acontecimento crítico; (2) desafiliação; (3) antecipação ambígua; (4) afiliação de pares e (5) aceitação.…”