Preteens And Alcoholism

7 Pages 1770 Words

Alcoholism has been a very important problem of the modern society and has attracted much attention from sociologists, academicians and medical practitioners since many years. Much progress has been made in either containing or lessening the adverse effects of alcoholism in adults as well as adolescents in the past few years. However, as much as there have been successes in containing the problem of alcoholism in the society, newer problems also have been creeping up that gives new challenges to social workers. One of the more recent problem of alcoholism in adults and youngsters is pre-teen alcoholism, which needs to be considered with extreme caution because the harmful effects of alcohol on children in their pre-teen years is much, more than the effects that are seen in adults or the youth.
Michael Windle observes that 'the concept of alcoholism, in its most general sense, refers to a disease, or disorder, typically characterized by: (a) a prolonged period of frequent, heavy alcohol use; (b) a variety of social and/or legal problems associated with alcohol use (e.g., driving while intoxicated, impaired school/work performance); and (c) the expression of dependency symptoms (e.g., unpleasant withdrawal effects when unable to consume alcohol).' [Windle, 1998, p. 1]. In children these symptoms may manifest much easily than in adults because of their young physical condition.

Deviance in relation to alcoholism is characterized by the adverse social consequences associated with drinking alcohol and includes problems in the home, at school or college, with peers, or with legal authorities. Problems in the home include such behaviors as fighting with parents about drinking and keeping away from home. Problems at school or college include attending to school drunk, or missing school because of drinking. Problems with peers include such actions including street-fights, conflicts in relationships. And problems with legal authorities inclu...