After finishing this chapter, students should be able to understand:
In colonial America alcohol use was widespread and drunkenness was frowned on, but alcohol itself was not seen as a cause of major social and medical ills.
Reformers first proposed temperate use of alcoholic beverages, and it was not until the late 1800s that proposals to prohibit alcohol were instituted in several states.
National prohibition of alcohol did not achieve the results expected by its proponents, but it was successful in reducing total consumption and alcohol-related problems.
Alcohol use and alcohol-related problems vary widely among different cultural groups and in different regions of the United States.
Alcohol use is associated with thousands of traffic fatalities and has been correlated with homicide, assault, family violence, and suicide.
The concept of alcoholism is complex. No single definition or theory is adequate to cover all the people who are called or who call themselves alcoholic.
One continuing controversy is whether every alcoholic should have abstinence as the only goal or whether controlled drinking is also a worthwhile treatment outcome.
Although many alcoholics relapse after treatment, not all do, and treatment programs are statistically effective.
