Alcoholism: Effects on the Family - Term Paper Example

 Alcoholism – Effects on the Family Abstract This research project examines the impact of alcoholism on the family, exploring the social dynamic of families as well as a series of disruptive events occurring as a product of alcoholism. Through a series of secondary research sources, it was identified that alcoholism can significantly undermine the social hierarchy as well as create behavioral issues in many family members. Alcoholism – Effects on the Family Introduction It is a commonly-understood principle that the physical consumption of alcohol causes both psychological and physical effects in the body. To illustrate the popularity of alcohol, research identifies that Americans drink more beer than they do coffee, milk, tea, bottled water and fruit juices combined (Henslin, 2003: 586). With this statistic in mind, alcoholism, and its physical and mental impacts, alters behaviors in the regular drinker which create family-wide disruption and conflict. Previously-important family rituals are shattered, financial problems arise, child neglect occurs, as well as a multitude of possible impacts. This research project identifies alcoholism in the family and the impact on family lifestyle. Literature Review One author describes the family structure as one in which specific job roles are assumed by various family members, with one as chief caretaker, another as the family expert, the master distractor, and many other family roles (Cole, 2000: 27). These job descriptions are generally held for long periods of time and work as the foundation of the family structure. In the situation where alcoholism factors into the family dynamic, outcomes of behavioral changes can include domestic violence, marital discord, sexual abuse, suicide, poverty and even medical problems (Athanasiadis, 2003; Cooper, 2001). The linkage between alcoholism and behavioral changes would explain the wide variety of aforementioned family outcomes as the social dynamic changes. The alcoholic, if they were the traditional caretaker, is suddenly the family member requiring help. The family expert, if acting as the family alcoholic, is suddenly unable to provide the guidance or swift fix-it mentality which the family had come to previously rely on. Marital discourse would be the most obvious outcome of strained spousal relationships if one or the other is unable to receive the rewards of their partner’s job role functions in the family due to altered behaviors. Brink (2001) offers the phenomenon of enabling, in which family members either deliberately or inadvertently provide the environmental conditions necessary for alcoholics to continue with their behaviors. Situations such as making excuses for the alcoholic in the face of broken social events or suspended driver’s licenses often occur in families where the dysfunction of alcohol occurs (Brink). When one or more family members grows tired of the excuses and similar enabling activities, concepts such as putting down one’s foot and following through on threats become a reality in the family. This disrupts the cycle of enabling and creates conflict in the family, which is likely a factor of the outcomes of mental and physical abuse. Eimer (2004) identifies a series of stages which families go through during the existence of an alcoholic family member which include anger, pain, denial and ultimate acceptance. This would represent a psychological dynamic to the family as well in which there are stages where violent outbursts of anger occur or refusals to discuss the issue with other family members. Some family members can actually sabotage efforts to help change the alcoholic situation in an effort to deny the problem and receive “just one more day of false serenity” (Cole, 2000: 29). This represents the family as a complex organization where psychology is a common factor in the social interaction between family members. Stages of alcoholism, if different family members were to reach different levels of acceptance at different times, would create conflict and lead to a disrupted and dysfunctional family unit. Methods This research project combined secondary and primary research to uncover the effects of alcoholism on the family. The primary study involved recruiting a small sampling of interview subjects to discuss their individual experiences with alcoholism. For the purposes of justifying the secondary research sources outlined in this project’s literature review, four subjects of various demographics were chosen to fulfill the objectives of this research study. The research instruments consisted of an interview template with a small variety of open-ended questions pertaining to alcoholism and the family dynamic. Ages ranged from 22 to 63 and the gender recruited was mixed equally. Each interview subject was asked to best describe their unique roles in the family based on three categories: Caretaker, Family Expert, or Master Distractor. This was intended to give the interviewer a snapshot of their unique role in an attempt to link individual family effects to specific job role. This blend of both qualitative and quantitative research objectives were the most reliable approach to this study. Findings Table 1 illustrates the specific job roles determined to be most fitting by the subjects as well as their unique experiences with alcohol. All subjects had experiences with alcoholism in their own households at some period in their life spans. Interview results indicated that Subject 1 and Subject 2, both self-determined Master Caretakers, experienced family outcomes of alcoholism of a sexual variety: Incest and the spousal use of Internet pornography. Incest in Subject 1 occurred during late teenage years with a stepfather while Subject 2 experienced pornography troubles from a spousal perspective. Subject 3 and Subject 4, both Master Experts, experienced problems involving alcoholic spouses and had financial problems as well as a divorce. Subject Three’s financial problems occurred due to a spouse’s careless spending on restaurants and excess shopping while Subject Four’s divorce was the outcome of constant verbal assaults. Conclusion There are clearly a wide variety of potential effects which alcoholism can create within the family dynamic. This research, despite its limited sample population, does appear to point toward a specific trend. This evidence suggests that there might be a link between the caretaker role and sexual behavior on behalf of the alcoholic. Incest and computer pornography as activities of the alcoholic, in the face of changes in their caretaker’s role or behaviors, might be more prone to behave in deviant sexual manner. Subject 2 and Subject 3 experienced spousal problems leading to excess spending and due to verbal assaults. These are rather extravagant behaviors and point toward an alcoholic who would be prone to outbursts of erratic behaviors when their alcoholism causes their trusted Master Expert to change behaviors. The Master Expert role is that of the fixer, thus when there is nobody to keep the alcoholic under control with guidance and wisdom, the alcoholic might respond by acting out on outrageous spending sprees and verbal assaults to regain power over themselves. This research study, despite its small scale, does tend to support the secondary research provided in the literature review regarding the social dynamic and specific job role function changes caused by the presence of alcoholism. Future research studies, of a broader sample size, would be of considerable interest to determine whether specific job roles can be linked to specific alcoholic-related outcomes would benefit the research community and the modern family as well. This research study supports the notion that alcoholism maintains the ability to create a wide variety of problems and should be explored further. References Athanasiadis, L. (2003). “Alcoholism, marital problems and sexual dysfunction”. Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry, 2(1). Retrieved 20 Nov 2008 from http://www.annals- general-psychiatry.com/content/2/S1/S40. Brink, Susan. (2001). “How to Help an Alcoholic Beyond Excuses”. U.S. News & World Report. Washington. 130(18): 56. Cole, Barbara S. (2000). Gifts of Sobriety: When the Promises of Recovery Come True. Center City, Minn., Hazeldon Publishing: 27-29. Cooper, Laura. (2001). “Outcomes of Involvement and Overall Life Satisfaction for Family Members with a Member in Treatment at Luther/Midelfort’s New Journey Outpatient AODA Program”. University of Wisconsin-Stout Graduate School. Retrieved 20 Nov 2008 from http://www.uwstout.lib/thesis/2001/2001cooper1.pdf. Eimer, Marianne. (2004). “Next door”. Library Journal. New York. 129(3): 176. Retrieved 19 Nov 2008 from ProQuest database. Henslin, James M. (2003). Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. 6th ed. A&B Publishing: 586. Read More