Alcoholism and Society

In our society today, if a woman is married to a male alcoholic and there are children under the age of 18 in the family, nine out of ten women will stay with the alcoholic. However, if the situation is reversed, and she is the alcoholic, only one out of ten males will stay. In fact, an alcoholic wife has a nine times greater chance of divorce than an alcoholic husband (Kinney, 2000).

Many of the women’s reasons for staying range from a lack of viable alternatives to denial. Additionally, the norms of society must be considered. For example, a male can become inebriated and engage in drunken behavior, and still be permitted to feel masculine. It is difficult for a woman to become inebriated and engage in drunken behavior and feel feminine. For the male, there exists a complementary norm of excessive drinking and masculinity. However, for the female, there exists a conflicting norm regarding excessive drinking and femininity. Where a complementary norm exists, there is a higher probability of its continual occurrence and a higher level of social acceptance.

Another factor may be that if a woman has children, and she is suspected of having a drinking problem, one of the first things that may be said about her is that she is an “unfit” mother. It is unlikely that the male will stay in this situation. However, how long does male alcoholism continue before we hear that he is an “unfit” father?

Sunil Kumar                                      Jayasudha Kamaraj

Clinical Psychologist                         Counseling Psychologist

Founder - Mind Zone                        Co-founder, Mind Zone

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