Measuring Public Acceptance of the Alcoholic As a Sick Person

Lay theories of the causes of alcoholism

“…Overall, subjects preferred explanations which referred to social stresses, psychological traits and cultural or social norms, as opposed to biological, genetic and moralistic explanations. These results confirm the shift away from a moralistic model and towards a psychological model, which previous studies of lay beliefs about alcoholism have revealed (Mulford & Miller, 1961, 1964Linsky, 1972;Robinson, 1976;Frieze, 1979;and McHugh, 1979). It should, of course, be pointed out that comparison between this and other studies is weak since there are differences between this study and those cited above concerning the sample and questionnaire used, as well as the independent variables investigated.…”

“…A problem with this approach, however, is that beliefs about the causes of alcoholism do not fit into neat bidimensional categories, and endorsement of one view does not necessarily imply rejection of another. Mulford & Miller (1961) found an almost equal preference for moralistic and medical models in an initial survey of public attitudes. Yet, in a subsequent study that enabled subjects to endorse both views, nearly half of the subjects endorsed both models suggesting the complexity of lay views.…”

“…Furthermore, much of this research is based on the implicit assumption that a person's belief about the causes of alcoholism influences their attitudes towards the alcoholic person. However, this research into public attitudes usually assumed a simple moralistic (they were bad) vs. medical (they were sick) dichotomy, revealing evidence for an increasing acceptance of the disease concept of alcoholism, which views the alcoholic as someone who is medically unable to tolerate the effects of alcohol (Mulford & Miller, 1961, 1964Linsky, 1972;Hey, 1977;McHugh et al, 1980). A problem with this approach, however, is that beliefs about the causes of alcoholism do not fit into neat bidimensional categories, and endorsement of one view does not necessarily imply rejection of another.…”

Are Disease and Other Conceptions of Alcohol Abuse Related to Beliefs About Outcome and Recovery?1

“…As in previous studies (Blum et al, 1989;Caetano, 1987;Crawford & Heather, 1987;Mulford & Miller, 1964), the majority of respondents agreed that alcohol 776 CUNNINGHAM, SOBELL, AND SOBELL abuse could best be conceived of as a disease (79.6%) or an addiction (89.6%). Roughly one quarter of all respondents felt that alcohol abuse was a habit (27.4%) or a sin (21.0%).…”

“…The disease concept is one of several different conceptualizations that can be held about alcohol abusers (e.g., sin, habit, addiction). While several studies have examined other conceptions of alcohol abuse with respect to how these beliefs overlap with endorsement of the disease concept (Blum, Romany, & Bennett, 1989;Caetano, 1987;Cunningham et al, 1994;Linsky, 1972;Mulford & Miller, 1964;Ulrich, 1992), little research has examined how other conceptions may be related to beliefs about recovery for alcohol abusers. One study (Rodin,198 1) found that respondents who agreed with a "psychological problems view" of alcohol abuse were more likely to believe that alcohol abuse was curable.…”