Women and Alcohol: Social Perspectives

Issues relating to alcohol 'misuse' can only properly be understood within their social and environmental contexts. This research and practice based book explores social models of alcohol misuse to offer a sociological approach to its treatment.

Through considering the social meaning of women's alcohol use, the book challenges current policy and practice in the field. It raises concerns about the political role of 'treatment' in making women behave, or to be 'well', and aims to develop a new approach to women's drinking and new ways of aiding recovery, at national and local levels.

With contributions from service users, academics and practitioners, this is essential reading for those studying addiction, gender and the social background to alcohol problems.

Introduction ~ Patsy Staddon;

Part One: The social construction of women’s alcohol use;

The context for a social model of alcohol use ~ Peter Beresford;

Alcohol and moral regulation in historical context ~ Rachel McErlain;

Normalisation of hedonism? Challenging convergence culture through ethnographic studies of alcohol consumption by young adults - a feminist exploration ~ Shane Blackman, Laura Doherty and Robert McPherson;

Alcohol, young women’s culture and gender hierarchies ~ Alison Mackiewicz;

Domestic abuse and women’s use of alcohol ~ Sarah Galvani, with Christine Toft;

Part Two: Different women, different perspectives;

Older women and alcohol ~ Marian Barnes and Lizzie Ward;

The silences in our dance: Black Caribbean women and alcohol (mis)use ~ Laura Serrant;

A drink in my hand: why 'putting down the glass' may be too simple a solution for lesbian women ~ Lyndsey Moon and Patsy Staddon;

Been there, seen that, done It! An auto-ethnographic narrative account of alcohol use ~ Lyndsey Moon;

Part Three: A social approach to women's alcohol treatment;

The right 'space' for women: effective treatment in primary care for women’s dependent and problematic alcohol consumption ~ Jeff Fernandez;

Responding to women’s alcohol problems through adult community learning provision ~ Lydia Lewis;

What alcohol support women say they need: evidence from service user-led research and practice ~ Patsy Staddon;

The social model in alcohol treatment services: the impact for women ~ Daisy Bogg, with Terry Bogg;

Conclusion ~ Patsy Staddon.

Dr. Patsy Staddon recovered from over 20 years of alcohol dependency 26 years ago and returned to university to study women's alcohol use from a sociological perspective. She has written and published about the barriers to women's recovery, such as shame and marginalisation. She is active in the mental health research field and founded the Alcohol Study Group of the British Sociological Association and the Women's Independent Alcohol Support (WIAS) organisation.