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Much is written, especially in psychodynamically oriented literature, about the unduly close dependency relationship male alcoholics have with their mothers. Whilst not disputing this it became apparent to myself when working with them that they also expressed strong attachments to their fathers who were described as absent or punitive. The literature goes on to theorize that a repressed homosexual element is often at work in the male alcoholic. Not much more of substance is said about the father other than he may be absent or punitive - even less is mentioned of the male alcoholic's experience with his father. It appears that this relationship has remained largely unexplored as a result of an uncritical imposition of theory, especially psychodynamic, upon the complex phenomenon of alcoholism. These theories generally posit the mother's influence over all problems in living be they neuroses, psychoses or alcoholism. It is possible that a dialogue exists between mother, father and alcoholic son which is more extensive and complex than that currently described in the literature, with father playing a greater role than previously believed.

A study was done to investigate the well documented heterogeneous nature of the alcoholic population. Loevinger's Ego Development Sentence Completion Scale and Rotter's Locus of Control Questionnaire were used to investigate specific characteristics of the primary and secondary alcoholic subtypes. No differences between primary and secondary alcoholics were found on either the Ego Development or Locus of Control scales. The reasons for and implications of such findings were discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at increased risk for the development of alcoholism, and are apparently characterized by other abnormalities. It is possible that one or more of these abnormalities might serve as a marker for the alcoholic predisposition. Research described in this thesis, conducted in the hopes of identifying such a marker, was designed (1) to separate the relative pharmacological and psychological effects of acute alcohol intoxication upon neuropsychological functioning; (2) to investigate the neuropsychological function of SOMAs with a multigenerational family history of male alcoholism; (3) to examine the relationship between SOMAs' neuropsychological function and their cardiovascular hyper-reactivity to threat of and aversive stimuli; and (4) to investigate the relationship between a number of cardiovascular response patterns and voluntary weekly alcohol consumption. These studies are linked conceptually, within the context of a general theory of information-processing and action.

No description available.

This study investigated demographic and personality variables, that counselors used in the selection of alcoholics for long term treatment and compared the completion rate for this group against completion rates reported in past studies, in order to determine if certain personality variables are associated with completion. The MMPI, Survey of Drinking Patterns and Effects, and a demographic questionnaire was administered to 355 lower class and "skid row" inpatient alcoholics from a North Tucson alcoholism treatment center. Results showed that counselors selection judgements approximated the characteristics of alcoholics who had completed long term treatment programs in past studies. Completion rates for this group studied were found to be moderately high compared to past studies. It was concluded that certain biographical and psychological variables can be used as selection criteria for determining alcoholics long term treatment completion. Implications for these findings are discussed.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences