Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.R.)--St. John's Seminary, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-64).

This qualitative, interpretive research sought to elicit explanations for certain contradictions and choices in the lives of four married women who were autonomous and assertive in their careers, yet non-assertive and compliant in their married lives. Such contradictions appeared both in their projected stories and semi-structured interviews. It had been expected that these projected stories would reveal autonomy and assertiveness, in line with the white, middle-class, feminist values of the subjects, but they had not. Explanations for these apparent contradictions were attributed to the effects of being children of alcoholic fathers. While the subjects' socialisation and vulnerability to family ideology provided certain explanations for the presence of such contradictions, an object relations account of the unconscious need to resurrect an ideal father and repair the generic family provided a more probable explanation,and accounted for their traditional gender role behaviour as ideal wives in spite of their non-traditional, feminist behaviour outside of marriage.

The problem of alcoholism is a major health concern in many countries of the world. The "skid row" alcoholic represents a minority of all alcoholics and shows deterioration to the extreme. This study is a survey of a group of "hard core" alcoholics who live in the downtown area of Vancouver, B.C. While recognizing the importance of physiological, psychological and psychiatric factors, the study evaluates the problem mainly within a sociological frame of reference. In particular, the concept of "retreatism" as set forth by R.K. Merton is related to specific characteristics of the skid row alcoholic's social functioning. The chief source of the data used is the records kept by the Vancouver City jail for the year I960 and before. These data are limited to such factors as age, education, and marital status. Consequently, evaluation of the data is limited to establishing the fact of retreatism and relating this to possible etiological factors in the light of information from other studies. A survey of treatment facilities and resources available to the skid row alcoholic illustrates a negative community attitude toward the problem. It is noted that while the public attitude toward alcoholism as a medical and social problem is changing, this is not reflected in services provided. Both government and private agencies regard the skid row alcoholic as "hopeless", and no coordinated program is in operation. Evaluation of the study indicates that while the facts do not serve as "proof" of Merton's theory, they appear to be consistent with the formulation of the phenomena of retreatism, and imply a need for further detailed research. Further, the results are compared with similar studies and appear to be sufficiently consistent to indicate that the skid row alcoholic represents a national problem which is costly and wasteful of human resources. The greatest need is for proper assessment, combined with long-term treatment and rehabilitation facilities, to supplant the present "revolving door" policies. Prerequisite to this, public education must be accelerated, since changes in community attitudes are needed if the skid row alcoholic is to be regarded as the product of cultural inadequacies and not simply as example of individual "moral weakness". / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Adopting a social problems framework, the relation between certain sociological factors and rehabilitation was analyzed for a group of alcoholic patients treated at an out-patient clinic. It was hypothesized that favourable socio-economic characteristics, such as being married and living with wife, being employed, living in acceptable housing, were related to treatment success. Six such factors, one of them a motivational index,were incorporated into a prognostic index by a Danish researcher. This index was replicated with data gathered during interviews with 155 male patients for a follow-up study during 1962/63. Treatment results and factors associated with treatment were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Stepwise regressions showed that socio-economic data combined into an index did not predict treatment outcome with any degree of accuracy for the Canadian sample. Housing, type of spirit consumed and age emerged as a "best" predictor, accounting for roughly 8 per cent of the variance involved in successful treatment outcome. The hypothesis was not confirmed that socio-economic factors are associated with rehabilitation, but it was found that certain social control factors, which are associated with socio-economic factors, are conducive to rehabilitation if treatment is given at out-patient clinics. The inferences drawn from the findings suggested both certain theoretical and practical implications for treatment. These were spelled out in some detail following Talcott Parsons' theory of social control and deviance, and definitions of illness and health in the light of North American values and social structure. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

The Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES), Form I, which asks clients about their expectations of an ideal treatment environment, was administered to 51 dropouts and 151 completers who began a four-week inpatient programme for alcoholics. A discriminant analysis did not reveal significant differences between dropouts and completers on the COPES subscales. It was concluded that this instrument may not be a useful early predictor of dropouts. Estimations of expectation disconfirmation were derived for each client by calculating the difference between the client's subscale scores on Form I of the COPES and the therapist's subscale scores on Form R of the COPES (which asks about perceptions of the real treatment environment). Comparison of dropouts and completers in terms of these difference scores indicated that this information was also not useful for the early prediction of dropouts. The results are related to previous findings in the literature on client expectations and dropping out of treatment. The potential utility of conventional approaches to the prediction of dropouts is questioned. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study compared the treatment outcomes of three groups of alcoholic clients which varied in the extent to which their spouses were involved in a 26-day residential treatment program. The three groups consisted of 24 clients whose treatment included a one-day conjoint spouse involvement program, 35 clients whose treatment included a five-day conjoint spouse involvement program, and 22 clients whose spouses did not participate in the treatment program. Self-report measures at 9.3 months follow-rup indicated that significantly more of the clients who participated in the five-day spouse involvement program were controlling their drinking than clients in either of the other two groups. It was suggested that longer, more intensive spouse involvement may be the preferred alternative for alcohol programs with a controlled drinking goal. In comparing the present findings with the existing literature, it was also suggested that spouse inolvement may be most beneficial for those programs with modest success rates, but of less benefit to those programs with high success rates. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Twenty-five alcoholic patients in the Alcohol Treatment Program at Dammasch State Hospital near Wilsonville, Oregon, and twenty-five alcoholic patients in the same hospital who were not participating in the program were given a questionnaire designed to collect demographic data on both groups. The demographic characteristics were to be gathered in order to assess the possible need of diversified treatment programs for alcoholic patients at Dammasch State Hospital and in the Portland community. Demographic data involved the social background, the alcohol background, and the medical/psychological history of the patients. The results seemed to suggest that the two groups of patients were more similar than dissimilar regarding demographic characteristics. However, differences were noted between the two groups on the patients preference for the treatment of alcoholism. This might imply a need for a more diversified choice of treatment.

No description available.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 B46 / Master of Science