Three Traditions in Social Thought on Alcoholism

Abstract

The three traditions in social thought on alcoholism that are discussed here are the moral perspective and the Prohibition movement, stressing alcohol and its supposed evil, destructive properties; the modern alcoholism movement and the “disease” conception of alcoholism, stressing the alcoholic as “sick”; and the “new public health,” which stresses the need for societal controls over alcohol (in contrast to personal controls). The “new public health” movement represents an attempt to put “alcohol” back into “alcoholism policies” and harbors an ecological base that stresses societal limits and societal controls (in energy use as well as in alcohol use).