Amongst the important social problems today in both rural
and urban areas, is the condition of inebriety. Although considerable
research has been conducted on the condition of alcoholism, little has
been undertaken on the condition of inebriety. It is an observable
fact that, while members of some ethnic groups who drink substantially
and frequently become inebriated, members of other ethnic groups who
also partake of alcoholic beverages in substantial quantities do not
experience inebriety. This suggests that the culture of the ethnic
group determines the group's drinking patterns to a large measure, and
that drinking patterns may be such that they lead participants to the
condition of inebriety. In this thesis, I have attempted to examine
drinking patterns of three ethnic groups in relation to several aspects
of their cultural background. I devised and tested five hypotheses which
are relevant to attitudes towards drinking, reasons for drinking, settings
and times of the day in which drinking occurs. I have attempted
also to examine Indian and Italian drinking patterns to determine to
what extent each group matches or differs from Anglo-Saxon drinking patterns.
The study was made on a comparative basis, and field work
was conducted amongst three ethnic groups in the Greater Vancouver area
during the summer, fall and winter, 1967-1968. The three groups are
the Coast Salish Indians of the Mission Reserve, Immigrant Italians and
Anglo-Saxons of East Vancouver. Data on the problem briefly outlined above, were sought through interviews with thirty representatives of
each group, as well as by observations of members of the ethnic groups
in their social drinking establishments. Two key informants in each
ethnic group, as well as several pertinent documentary sources, were
also consulted.
The available data collected in the study suggested that the
proposed hypotheses were valid. There appears to be a close relationship
between the cultural background of an ethnic group and its drinking
patterns. However, it needs to be stated that there were many
inadequacies and limitations in the reference literature used, basic
premises and hypotheses proposed, and research techniques employed.
Data also suggested that there was a high degree of similarity between
Anglo-Saxon and Indian drinking patterns and a high degree of difference
between Anglo-Saxon and Italian drinking patterns. Additional and
enlightening information which the data suggested was that many of the
cultural aspects of the Indian group, particularly, are in a marked
stage of transition. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41713 |
| Date | January 1968 |
| Creators | Buckley, Patricia Lorraine |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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