Alcoholism in the family. A multicultural exploration

The initial focus is on defining race, culture, and ethnicity, followed by a review of the extent of alcohol and alcohol use consequences among African-Americans and Native Americans. Cultural specificity in an historical context is provided. A brief overview of gaps in the incident and prevalence data is presented. The biosociocultural context of drinking among African-American women with specific emphasis on cultural disruption, socialization, and social class is explored. A triracial infant girl (African-American/Native American/German-Irish-American), whose family genogram documents, by the case study method, six generations back to slavery, is presented. The alcohol use patterns within this family are somewhat illustrative of historical patterns and of racial and ethnic import. An absence of religiosity/spirituality is noted. The family genogram is followed by a discussion of the limitations of the case study method of family genograms. The final section relates the findings of the family genogram back to the extant data and the gaps in the collection of data regarding the epidemiology of alcoholism across groups. It highlights the recent findings and questions raised by those findings from cross-cultural and racial studies of alcoholism among women of color.