ALCOHOLISM Its Treatments and Mistreatments This page intentionally left blank ALCOHOLISM Its Treatments and Mistreatments Irving Maltzman Professor Emeritus University of California Los Angeles, USA World Scientific NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TA I P E I • CHENNAI Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ALCOHOLISM: ITS TREATMENTS AND MISTREATMENTS Copyright © 2008 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-277-087-5 ISBN-10 981-277-087-9 Typeset by Stallion Press Email:
[email protected] Printed in Singapore. Wanda - Alcoholism.pmd 1 5/20/2008, 6:27 PM b543_FM.qxd 1/4/2008 2:40 PM Page v FA Contents 1. A Biosociobehavioral Disease Conception of Alcoholism 1 2. Alcoholism Treatments and Mistreatments 25 3. What Makes Alcoholics Anonymous Work 77 4. Expectancy Theory and Research: Balderdash! 107 5. Self-selection of Alcoholism Treatment Goals: Harm Reduction or Induction 135 6. Little Albert Redux II: Bias and Lack of Scholarship in Textbooks 165 7. Sociology of Science and Alcoholism Studies 217 References 231 Appendix 1: Letter to Griffith Edwards 265 Appendix 2: Letter to Mary Beth Kenkel 275 Index 313 v b543_FM.qxd 1/4/2008 2:40 PM Page vi FA This page intentionally left blank b543_Chapter-01.qxd 11/21/2007 1:21 PM Page 1 FA 1 A Biosociobehavioral Disease Conception of Alcoholism Miller and Hester (2003), in the introductory chapter of their Handbook of Alcoholism Treatment Approaches: Effective Alternatives (3rd ed.), present various “conceptual models” or interpretations regarding the characteristics and etiology of alcohol problems: Experts in the field ascribe alcohol problems and alcoholism to a bewildering array of causes: inherent biochemical abnormalities (Blum & Payne, 1991; Milam & Ketcham, 1981), genetic influence (Begleiter & Kissin, 1995), conflictual emotions (Denzin, 1993), irrational cognitions (Ellis & Velten, 1992), social learning processes (Orford, 1985; Peele, 1985), family pathology (Curtis, 1999; Steiner, 1971; Steinglass, Bennett, Wolin, & Reiss, 1987), sociocultural influences (Cahalan, 1987; Edwards et al., 1994; Holder, 1998), self-regulation failure (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994), and personal choice (Fingarette, 1988). Given such disagreement about the essence and causes of alcohol problems, it is little