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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Randolph, Lois Bright, August 1987 - TE ETHNOGRAPHY OF A RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT RESIDENCE FOR HOMELESS MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE CHRONIC ALCOHOLICS
Abstract: Prior to the passage of the Uniform Alcoholism and Intoxication Treatment Act (UAITA 1971) on the federal level, and the Comprehensive Alcoholism Prevention Control and Treatment Act (Myers Act 1971) on the state level, treatment for chronic public inebriates in the State of Florida followed the corrective-punitive model of the criminal justice system. With the decriminalization of alcoholism, domiciliaries were established for homeless alcoholics who would have formerly resided in jails or larger mental institutions. This ethnographic study focuses upon the interactions of residents and staff at an extended care treatment residence, or domiciliary, for homeless men and women who are chronic alcoholics. Residents and staff are examined through direct observation, interviewing, and analysis of patient data. The fundamental findings suggest that residents and staff are two separate subcultures interacting in a specific treatment milieu. Data on 51 men show that 36 (71%) are traditional chronic public inebriates. These men are usually in their late forties or fifties, and onset of the disease of alcoholism has slowly progressed over a period of 20 years or more. However, 15 (29%) of the patients were younger men, often Vietnam veterans, under the age of 40. Early deterioration of their condition could be attributed to the incidence of poly-drug use among this population. Six case studies focus on the different "types" of residents. Major recommendations gleaned from this research include: (1) the importance of training counselors to work with not only traditional alcoholics, but also with the younger, poly-addicted clients; and (2) the need for treatment staff to recognize the necessity of entertaining several possible treatment modalities in order to help this diverse client population. The treatment approach using the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) model of treatment exclusively will no longer suffice; AA should be included as one facet of a therapeutic community model of treatment. Ethnography, using the methodology of participant observation, can lead to an understanding of the complex cultural patterns and processes involved in the treatment of alcoholism at a domiciliary for chronic public inebriates. This understanding may contribute to a more effective treatment approach for homeless men and women who suffer from the disease of alcoholism.
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