| Abstrakt: |
Prevailing for more than a half century in the United States, the medical model labels alcoholism as a disease and offers abstinence as the sole predominant cure. In 1990, a panel representing the American National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded that most drinking problems were not serious enough to justify America's intensive one-size-fits-all hospital treatment programs. Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and Europe long ago ascertained problem drinking as a public health concern. Australian, British and Norwegian treatment services appear twice as likely to accept controlled drinking (CD) as corresponding services in the United States (Donovan & Heather, 1996). Since treatment policies in the former countries are also less influenced by the disease model, this difference points to the impact of Alcoholics Anonymous on treatment policy and cultural values with regard to treatment and, ultimately, the acceptance of a diversity of options for alcohol-related problems. This paper will give a brief history of alcohol treatment in the United States during the twentieth century, discuss the treatment of alcohol addiction in American society today, and examine future trends in dealing with alcohol addiction that show promise for the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
