Responding to Drinking Problems

In the 1970s family doctors, social workers, researchers and administrators had been aware of the inadequacy of the response to drinking problems for some time. However, there had been no systematic examination of why such agents felt negatively about drinkers and disinclined to respond to them. Originally published in 1978, this book develops a radical new perspective on the prevalence and causes of drinking problems, combining reviews of historical and contemporary literature with the authors’ own research studies. This perspective is then linked to the need for an integrated response from both medical and social services, with a particular accent on the need for a community response. By focusing on the…