The Alcoholic Stigma and the Disease Concept

Abstract

Acceptance by the client of the label "alcoholic" is viewed by many practitioners as a prerequisite to alcohol abuse recovery. This study demonstrates, however, that the label is a highly stigmatized term associated with the skid row habitué. The 1956 American Medical Association acceptance of alcoholism as within the "purview of medical practice" was an important step for those who believed alcoholism could be destigmatized under the disease label. This study demonstrates that although the disease concept is widely held, the image of the term "alcoholic" remains highly stigmatized. These findings have implications for clinicians in the areas of labeling and the phenomenon of client denial.

Attitudes towards Alcohol Dependence and Affected Individuals: Persistence of Negative Stereotypes and Illness Beliefs between 1990 and 2011

“…In fact, both views, i.e. seeing alcohol dependence as an illness and blaming those affected for it, have been stated simultaneously by many respondents [14,16,17,18,20,21]. Although findings from previous studies are quite consistent, exact numbers are difficult to compare because the different types of study populations and survey methodologies have led to a wide range of results.…”

“…However, population surveys conducted in the USA and Europe since then have demonstrated that the illness concept of alcohol dependence has only partially permeated public opinion (see [14,15,16,17,18,19,20] for examples). Furthermore, defining alcohol dependence as an illness does not prevent blaming the affected individual.…”

The relationship between narrative classification of obesity and support for public policy interventions

“…There are many different types of diseases, which are associated with varying levels of stigma. For example, people generally take a more sympathetic view toward cancer or Type 1 diabetes than alcoholism, Type 2 diabetes, or mental illness (Dean and Poremba, 1983). Therefore, it is not obvious that people will react to the disease label in the way the AMA intends.…”

Genetics and alcoholism among at‐risk relatives I: Perceptions of cause, risk, and control

“…One study revealed that individuals who more strongly endorse social or behavioral causes for alcoholism were likely to report lower personal consumption [Tolor and Tamerin, 1975]. Another study found 58% of participants from the general population endorsed the disease or medical model of alcoholism [Dean and Poremba, 1983]. However, when asked to describe their views of alcoholics, respondents still chose negative stigmatizing descriptors that indicated some belief in a social or behavioral model.…”