Why this book is needed

The central theme of this book is that issues relating to alcohol ‘misuse’ can only properly be understood within their social and environmental context. Such an understanding, often termed a ‘social model’ (Beresford, 2002; Beresford, Chapter One, this volume), will inevitably include a political perspective, since looking sociologically involves looking critically at the connections between the social and personal elements in our lives (Mills, 1959) rather than allowing a narrower understanding, such as a purely medical interpretation, to predominate (Oakley, 2007). Applying these perspectives will have implications for how alcohol issues are perceived and consequently dealt with, both socially and medically. In particular, the central significance of gender needs to be addressed urgently.

The main aims of the book

One of the aims of the book is to illustrate the ways in which women's alcohol use has been depicted and sometimes distorted by the media, so that something of a moral panic (Cohen, 1972) has been generated (Plant and Plant, 2006). In contrast, the writers of the following chapters each in different ways show that women's alcohol use, whether or not it is problematic, is related to the particular culture and circumstances in which they are living. The book as a whole demonstrates the many ways in which women cope with varying drinking cultures. In other words, alcohol has a different significance, and is often used in different ways and for different purposes, among for example Black Caribbean women and among many lesbian women. It also often appears to offer a way of coping with living with domestic violence, and may help women in dealing with the aftermath of past abuse and other traumas.

The book also considers barriers to the development of a social model, particularly in relation to alcohol treatment. Such barriers include public (mis)understanding of ‘alcoholism’ as both immorality and illness. Such an understanding serves a social function in that ‘wrongdoers’ may be labelled and marginalised so that society as a whole may feel it is ‘not like that’ itself (Becker, 1963; Goffman, 1963; Staddon, 2005; Ettorre, 2007). This approach is, however, ultimately self-defeating, emphasising deviance (Merton, 1968) and resulting in alienation (Staddon, 2005; Ettorre, 2007) and social dissonance (Wearing et al, 1994).