Women and Alcohol

Paper Summary:

The paper offers a brief history of women and alcohol, looks at the psychological causes for the disease and explores current research and statistics. The paper shows how women alcoholics are on the rise, especially among young women who may binge drink. The paper discusses the many different causes for alcohol abuse in women and asserts that scientists need to do more research in the area of female alcohol abuse, develop sounder methods of treating this debilitating disease and remove the stigmas involved in women alcoholics that stop women from seeking out treatments.

From the Paper:

"Studies and information have not always acknowledged women alcoholics. For many years, most researchers and scientists studied men who abused alcohol, and ignored the fact that many women can also have problems with alcoholic consumption and abuse. Historically, this has also been the case. In fact, since the dawn of America in the 1600s, alcohol has been a part of the daily life of men and women, and there were probably more alcoholic women in Colonial America than at any other time in history. The Puritans brought more beer than water on the Mayflower, and they established breweries almost as soon as they arrived in the New World, largely because many water supplies were unfit to drink (Hanson, 2007)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Carter, C.S. (1997). Ladies don't: A historical perspective on attitudes toward alcoholic women. Affilia; 12; 471-485.
• Editors. (1995). Diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism No. 30 PH 359.
• Grant, B.F.; Dawson, D.A.; Stinson, F.S.; Chou, S.P.; Dufour, M.C.; and Pickering, R.P. (2004). The 12-month prevalence and trends in DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: United States, 1991-1992 and 2001-2002. Drug Alcohol Depend, 74(3):223-34.
• Hanson, D.J. (2007). Puritans to prohibition. Retrieved from the State University of New York Web site: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FunFacts/PuritansToProhibition.html 16 June 2007.
• SAMHSA/OAS, Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. DHHS Pub. (SMA) 03-3836, 2003.

More papers on Women and Alcohol:

• Essay # 27213 : "Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town" by Christine Eber"
• Comparison Essay # 4153 : "Women and Equality: Regina and Birdie"
• Essay # 16791 : "Gender and Alcohol Consumption"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: