This is a narrative of the Sugarman Project, a community project in Central Australia concerned with research into ancient Mediterranean and Greek traditions of alcohol use and abuse. The project was initiated as a response to a request from an Aboriginal man for a ‘story about alcohol’ which would fill a missing link in traditional Aboriginal conceptualisation of alcohol. The ‘story’ would have a role in indigenous treatment of alcohol abuse, put in a symbolic form consistent with oral teaching methods of indigenous custom. The project is centred around the development of an original performance script. The thesis describes the origin, context, development, rationale and implications of the project, especially with a view to considering the potential of the mythologem of Dionysos as a therapeutic paradigm in intercultural substance abuse work. Particular attention is given to the relationship between Aboriginal and European therapeutic practitioners and the use of myth, metaphor, symbolic function and specific Aboriginal ‘dreaming stories’ as a source and backup to therapeutic practice. Principal themes include the role of mythopoetic symbol formation in the development of thinking; reflections on the presence of theriomorphic serpentine imagery in the work; the role of stories as mental containers of therapeutic theory; reflections on the ‘milieu’ needed for implementing intercultural therapeutic procedures; examples of positive indigenous responses to alcohol work; preliminary notions on cross cultural transference communications; and reflections on primal states associated with alcohol intoxication. The conclusion is that the experience of developing a Western myth in concert with Aboriginal colleagues confirms the value of the initial, seminal suggestion that ‘dreaming stories’ have an authentic place in the repertoire of alcohol treatment and education / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

At present, there is speculation that women's alcohol use is a growing biomedical concern. Whilst not dismissing the potential health problems from excessive alcohol use by women that the evidence suggests, this thesis does not necessarily take the view that women's alcohol use/abuse is merely a reflection of a biomedical concern. Drawing predominantly from feminist tools of analysis, this thesis examines the discourse of alcohol use/abuse and reveals that mainstream interpretations of the epidemiological evidence are informed by an underlying sexism inherent in the research process itself. However, it is also argued that although popular interpretations can be contested on the grounds of sexism, there is a significant body of evidence that suggests women suffer more alcohol-related biological harm than men do. Given that epidemiological researchers are evidently observing something organically manifest, something perfectly correlative with the popular representation of a female vulnerability to alcohol related harm, this investigation cannot be reduced to the realm of cultural analysis and interpretation. The question then emerges, how can cultural assumptions that guide interpretations of the evidence become biologically manifest? Upon deeper reflection, this investigation turns its attention to relations of power and reveals the biological body and the discourses that produce it to be more closely aligned than generally presumed. This thesis argues that nature (the body) and culture (discourse) are not inherently oppositional, thus, the way we "conceptualise" the world must be inseparable from the "matter" under investigation. Based on this revelation, it is reasonable to consider that normalising discourse, which founds the meaning-making process of alcohol use, is not simply a re-presentation of the natural/organic world, but is constitutive of, and inherently writing the biological world it describes. Thus, rather than erecting material/conceptual borders that reinforce the polarisation of the nature/culture division, this thesis proposes a way to think difference more generously, in a way that allows for a closer reconciliation of the historical division between the "theory" and the "lived" experience.

Narratives of 'being Maori in addiction' have developed in a context in which Maori have been constituted as both 'drunken savages' and 'traditionally' abstinent. Discourses of colonialism and ongoing marginalisation, not to mention resistance, have been most salient in Maori narratives, while those focused on 'cultural deficit' have been more prominent within hegemonic narratives. The goal of the current thesis was to increase understanding of the construction of being Maori in addiction' by: i) identifying key discursive resources used to constitute related subject positions; and ii) identifying the ways in which such resources were deployed to accomplish particular tasks. A review of influential texts identified several core discourses, which located Maori within 'traditions' of collectivity, spirituality and connection with the land. However, the ongoing impact of colonisation, including contemporary alienation from 'tradition', and construction of Maori as the inferior 'other' within hegemonic narratives were prominent. Discourses of addiction have characteristically been based on biological notions of 'disease' and 'disorder', however, psychosocial discourse has become prominent more recently. The '12 Steps' of Alcoholic Anonymous, which provided the primary resource for participants with regard to 'addiction', also includes explicit discourses of spirituality. The current thesis was implemented within a methodological framework, kaupapa Maori. In this context deconstructive discourse analysis was identied as the most appropriate means of analysing interview data gathered from 11 men attending a 'addiction treatment' programme. The results indicated that while 'tradition' was central to narratives of 'being Maori', dicources of alienation and loss were equally salient. In terms of 'addiction', discourses of genetic inheritance were most prominent, although psychosocially constituted 'underlying issues' were also clearly located as being important. Such 'issues' were linked to both general life experiences and 'being Maori'. 'Treatment' narratives revolved around transformative narratives of 'self'. As participants disconnected themselves from 'addiction' and 'underlying issues', they reconnected with their positive ;essential self', previously compromised by 'addiction'. Two main discourses were utilised in terms of the relationship between 'being Maori' and 'addiction'. The first, deployed in aetiological narratives, constituted an inevitable link between 'being Maori' and substance use. The second, more prominent in 'treatment' narratives, located substance use as antithetical to 'Maori culture'. While both Maori and 12 Step 'traditions' were highlighted in participants' narratives, the latter tended to be privileged. 'Being Maori' was identified as important, or at least relevant, however, the opportunity to engage with integrated indigenised narratives of 'addiction' appeared to be limited by several factors. Essentialist 'tradition', for example, tended to be uncritically privileged within discourses that failed to account for contemporary 'diverse Maori realities', ignoring the complexities of relations between and within Te Ao Maori and Te Ao Pakeha. Additionally, '12 Step' discourses of 'treatment' limited construction of more broadly focused narratives of 'recovery'. Overall, the results indicated a clear need for Maori 'addiction treatments' to avoid essentialist notions of 'tradition' and support integrated narratives of 'being Maori in addication', which reflect the varied needs, capacity and experiences of individuals and whanau.

While it is generally assumed that alcohol consumption plays some role in the advent of negative sexual outcomes among college students (sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies, and date rape), that role has not been empirically demonstrated or quantified. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of alcohol consumption with negative sexual outcomes in college women. Specifically, this study attempted to determine this association by means of a survey administered to a population of women students from Oregon State University and Western Oregon State College (n =430). Data collection took place during winter term, 1991. Average monthly alcohol consumption was assessed, as well as the frequency of alcohol consumption prior to sexual intercourse. The association of alcohol consumption with experiences of sexual coercion, in both the victim and the perpetrator, was also assessed. Negative sexual outcomes assessed were sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy "scares", four categories of sexual coercion (unwanted touching, verbally forced date rape, physically forced date rape, and stranger rape), and unprotected intercourse (condom usage). A strong association between alcohol consumption and sexual coercion was found. Women who had experienced sexual coercion consumed significantly more alcohol on the average than those who had not had such experience. Also, it was found that alcohol was consumed by the perpetrator, the victim, or both in the majority (57-69%) of incidents of sexual coercion. While women who had experienced STDs appeared to drink more (mean monthly alcohol consumption= 16.9 drinks) than those who had not experienced STDs (mean monthly alcohol consumption= 12.3 drinks), small cell size and sample variability made meaningful statistical comparisons inappropriate. No association between alcohol consumption and unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy "scares" was found. Alcohol consumption prior to intercourse had a paradoxical relationship with both sexually transmitted diseases and condom usage: those who always or never drink prior to intercourse were less likely to experience an STD and more likely to use condoms than those who say they occasionally drink prior to intercourse. It is recommended that university health educators disseminate the findings on alcohol consumption and sexual coercion and STDs. It is also suggested that they, along with those responsible for student services and university policies, should encourage non-alcoholic forms of social support, stress management, and recreation on campus. An additional recommendation was that both qualitative research and longitudinal studies be done to follow up the exploration begun in this study. / Graduation date: 1992

Numerous cognitive, personality and situational factors have been found to be related to aggression. Understanding how these factors interrelate is essential to predicting violence and critical to the assessment and treatment of offenders with violent histories. Previous research has suggested a potential role for social problem solving as a mediator between impulsivity and aggression (McMurran et al., 2002). Additionally, it is well established that aggression is more likely to occur in the context of alcohol use (Collins, 1993; Reiss & Roth, 1993; Lipsey, Wilson, Cohen & Derzon 1997). Based on existing literature, a model of aggression was developed involving impulsivity, social problem solving and alcohol dependency. Utilizing path analysis with multiple regression, a mediational model of aggression was assessed on a sample of 179 provincially incarcerated offenders, 87% of whom were Aboriginal and 45% of whom had a previous conviction of domestic abuse. The data suggest that social problem solving, alcohol dependency and impulsivity are all important in understanding and predicting aggression. Social problem solving does not appear to act as a mediator in the relationship between impulsivity and aggression, although preliminary results suggest that impulsivity, may serve the function in this relationship and in the manifestation of aggression. The implications of these findings for our understanding about human factors contributing to aggression and for further advancement of treatment programs are provided.

Numerous cognitive, personality and situational factors have been found to be related to aggression. Understanding how these factors interrelate is essential to predicting violence and critical to the assessment and treatment of offenders with violent histories. Previous research has suggested a potential role for social problem solving as a mediator between impulsivity and aggression (McMurran et al., 2002). Additionally, it is well established that aggression is more likely to occur in the context of alcohol use (Collins, 1993; Reiss & Roth, 1993; Lipsey, Wilson, Cohen & Derzon 1997). Based on existing literature, a model of aggression was developed involving impulsivity, social problem solving and alcohol dependency. Utilizing path analysis with multiple regression, a mediational model of aggression was assessed on a sample of 179 provincially incarcerated offenders, 87% of whom were Aboriginal and 45% of whom had a previous conviction of domestic abuse. The data suggest that social problem solving, alcohol dependency and impulsivity are all important in understanding and predicting aggression. Social problem solving does not appear to act as a mediator in the relationship between impulsivity and aggression, although preliminary results suggest that impulsivity, may serve the function in this relationship and in the manifestation of aggression. The implications of these findings for our understanding about human factors contributing to aggression and for further advancement of treatment programs are provided.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the motives underlying the consumption of alcohol among college students and if the motives differ between genders. The study is based on the following questions: What are the motives underlying alcohol consumption among students? Do these motives differ between men and women? Is there any connection between the motives for alcohol consumption and consumption? The study is a quantitative, empirical comparison study and the data presented is mainly descriptive. The study group consists of students from a university in central Sweden. After an exclusion of five students a total of 81 students participated in the survey, of which 55 were female and 26 were male. The average age of all who participated in the study was 24 (sd = 4). The students' alcohol consumption and motives for alcohol consumption were investigated using two instruments: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (M DMQ-R). The questions from the two instruments were combined into a single questionnaire which then was used in the study. The questionnaire was accessible through a link on the internet. Students were recruited via advertisement on announcementboards around the school. A link to the survey was also published on the university's group page and on an application's group page on Facebook. The responses from the questionnaires were transferred to the computer programs Microsoft Excel and SPSS where they were analyzed and summarized. The results showed that the most common reason for drinking among both men and women were social motives. Enhancement motives were also more common than the other motives. There were more women than men who reported conformity motives, enhancement motives and coping with depression as a reason for their alcohol consumption. A few more men than women had indicated that they drink to coop with anxiety. There were a positive relationship only between enhancement motives and alcohol consumption, and this relationship was only among women in the study. There were no correlations between the other motives and alcohol consumption

The primary aim of this study was to enhance understanding of readiness to change excessive alcohol use in young adults, ages 18-29 in order optimize clinical care for military personnel. Secondary data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with a proxy sample of community health center beneficiaries obtained from the 2009 Insight Project Research Group’s study on Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) in the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD). Based on research-supported predictors of readiness to change alcohol use a multivariate model of pathways to readiness to change was created which incorporated psychological (i.e., emotional distress), behavioral (i.e., drinking severity, consequences severity), and maturation (i.e., age, marital status) factors, as well as demographic characteristics (i.e, race/ethnicity, gender). Multiple fit indices were used to assess the model fit with the data, while multiple group analysis was used to test for invariance between pathways to readiness to change for the young (18-29) and middle adult (30-60) groups. The study sample was ethnically diverse and consisted of 1,256 young adults and 4,623 middle adults. The proposed model showed a good fit with the InSight data set. Results demonstrated a strong path connecting emotional distress to both drinking severity and consequences severity, and then from consequence severity to readiness to change. Together, this path lends support to the concept that young adults are using alcohol to modulate their emotions and further, consequences may play an important role in readiness to chance excessive drinking. Variance detected in the multi-group analysis between young and middle adults also provided support for theory claiming differentiation of these groups, particularly as it relates to excessive drinking and readiness to change. Implications for future research and practice include the importance of replicating this and future studies with military samples. These findings lend support to the role of emotional distress and the coping theory paradigm in treating young adults. The military may be best served by continuing to support resources which promote healthy stress tolerance while simultaneously fostering proactive screening procedures and evidence-based care. Further, these findings also suggest that pathways to readiness to change may vary between young and middle adults, particularly as they relate to alcohol related consequences. Future research should focus on the role of consequences and the influence they may have in promoting readiness to change for each age group within the clinical setting. / text

The overall aim of this study is to gain an understanding of how student’sexperiences influence their perceptions about the use of alcohol during the study years. We focused on various factors that might have an impact on the individual’sperception and alcohol intake. These are: environmental influences such as family, school and friends and their dominant norms, context such as place and time in life and how individual and social identity affects student’sperceptions. The study is based on six empirical interviews, where quota sampling has been used for selecting participants. The theoretical framework is predominantly established in terms of norms, social deviance, group and self identity. Our findings show that the perception of alcohol and thereby the alcohol use has a connection to group identification, family relations, the student culture and that there are certain patterns related to individual and social identity aspects. We also noticed a difference in the perception of alcohol use over time, the primary focus of the differentiation suggesting that alcohol played a more significant part in the early stages of university studies.

Alcohol use, because of its many negative consequences, is the number one health problem facing college students. Because of this, researchers have looked for factors associated with reduced drinking. Religiousness is one such factor. Religiousness is a complex, multidimensional construct, and while it tends to be negatively associated with alcohol use, research progress has been slow due to the tendency of researchers to poorly operationalize this construct and to design studies that fail to go beyond the bivariate relationship of religiousness and alcohol use. In order to address these shortcomings, this study will assess two dimensions of religiousness, religious commitment/motivation and religious consequences, and will test a model, presented by Koenig et al., (2001), that postulates religiousness works through mental health in order to reduce alcohol use. More specifically, this study will test optimism as a possible mediator and moderator of the relationship between religiousness and alcohol use. This study used archival data from 260 (202 female and 58 male) Caucasian, Christian, undergraduate college students who completed a battery of surveys that included measures of religiousness, optimism, and alcohol use. A factor analysis was conducted on one measure of religiousness, the short form of the Faith Maturity Scale. Also, optimism was tested as both a mediator and a moderator for both dimensions of religiousness in predicting alcohol use. Findings indicated optimism is not a significant mediator of the religiousness-alcohol use relationship because optimism did not meet the preconditions for a mediator as it was not associated with alcohol use in this sample. Also, optimism was not a significant moderator of religious commitment/motivation, but it did moderate the relationship of religious consequences and alcohol use. Finally, the two dimensions of religiousness interacted in predicting alcohol use. While both dimensions of religiousness were negatively associated with alcohol use throughout the findings, gender was a significant moderator in all significant interactions. Several implications follow from this study. First, greater specificity is needed regarding Koenig et al.s (2001) model specifically in regards to which third variables are associated with which health outcomes and to whom the model applies. Second, this study highlights the importance of a multidimensional assessment of religiousness. Finally, this study indicates specificity is needed regarding what religious interventions will be helpful for which genders.