Female alcoholics and public assistance

The proband group in this investigation consisted of 71 female alcoholics subjected to compulsory treatment by the Temperance Board. Public assistance was surveyed from the calendar year when the subject reached 19 years of age to the 9th year after the first compulsory treatment. During the four-year period preceding the first compulsory treatment, the percentage of probands on public assistance per year increased from 25 to 50; this coincided with the increase in the percentage of probands having non-compulsory contact with the Temperance Board, annually. During the same period, both the percentage of probands who for the first time received public assistance and also the percentage of probands having first non-compulsory contact with the Temperance Board were doubled. After the first compulsory treatment, the dependence on public assistance remained constant at a very high level. The first instance of public assistance was a late socio-medical symptom. The first gonorrhoeal infection and also the first recorded criminal offence usually occurred considerably earlier; on the other hand, the first conviction for drunkenness occurred somewhat later in the course.