Quiz Answers
1.
According to this study, alcohol is causally related to how many medical conditions?
 60+ (D)
2.
Women who consume alcohol while undergoing estrogen replacement therapy are found to be at an increased risk for what type of cancer?
 Breast Cancer (B)
3.
Alcohol is consistently associated with violent crimes.
 True
4.
During the Soviet Union’s outlaw on alcohol in 1985-88, consumption of alcohol dropped 25% which resulted in the rate of male homicide victims falling by 40%
 True
5.
Alcohol consumption does not affect different cultures equally.
 False

The Many Faces of Alcohol
Bennett N. Kraemer
Kelly Ibbotson
Andy Feuling

Faces of Alcohol
 Alcohol is an Organic compound
 Hydroxyl (Oxygen atom bound to a hydrogen atom) function bound to a saturated carbon atom.
 Alcohol as a term originally refers to ethyl alcohol, the predominant alcohol in alcohols beverages.
 Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi first discovered alcohol (ethanol) in its pure form in Persia sometime around 900AD
 Alcohol is most well known for its inebriating qualities that come via fermentation and/or distillation

Alcohol as a Beverage
 Alcoholic beverage is a drink which contains substantial amount of the psychoactive drug ethanol
 One of the most globally used recreational drugs
 These drinks play important roles in most cultures.
 High potential for abuse
 Almost all countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption. Some countries ban these activities in their entirety.
 The global alcoholic beverage industry exceeded $1 trillion in
2014

Historical Crash Course
 Intentional fermentation started in 7000-6600 BC
Fermentation goes global starting in the Neolithic era
Story of Beer

Western History
 Western Europe and modern development
 Alcohol and the new world
 The Mayflower and colonies
 The wild west and drunks
 American prohibition
 1920-1933
 The drunkard or alcoholic?
 1933+
 The modern drunkard

Alcohol and Public Health
 Increased attention within the last 30 years
 Alcohol problems attributed to more than 60 different medical conditions
 Breast cancer
 Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
 What alcohol does to your body

Global Burden of Disease
 Regional and economic status dependent
 Low
 High
 Average 4%

Treatment
 Type, setting, and intensity
 Dependent on severity
 Alcohol induced issues
 Dependency
 Attention to disabilities or disorders
 Medical issues (pancreatitis, bleeding esophageal, etc.)
 Psychiatric conditions (psychosis, suicidal tendencies, depression, etc.)
 Three types of interventions
 Brief
 Specialized treatment programs
 Mutual help groups

Alcohol and Aggression
 Alcohol pharmacology
 Alcohol metabolism
 Psychopathology
 Blood alcohol concentration
 Learned expectancies about alcohol
 Biochemical factors

Alcohol and Aggression cont.
 Most crimes are homicides, assault, and rape
 57%-79% of alcohol being found as factors in North
American and European Countries
 42% involvement in violent crimes
 Unreported incidents included make a realistic 55%-60% involvement
 26 studies in 11 countries documented 63% of offenders intoxicated during crimes
 43-67% of violent prison inmates have alcohol related issues
 Anger and Alcohol

Alcohol and Aggression Findings
 Bio-psychosocial Conceptualization suggests:
 Aggression as multi-determined phenomenon influenced by the interaction of:
 Development risk factors
 Alcohol related factors
 Psychological factors
 Contextual influences
 Interactions between Bio-psychological vulnerabilities and environment affect internalized norms
 Interventions should address individuals behavior and environmental factors

Findings Cont.
 Biologically, alcohol affects numerous neurotransmitter systems and varies in its effects
 Gammaaminobutyric acid system and serotonin system
 Intoxicated individuals appear to be more reactive to:
 Dominant instigator situational cues
 Less reactive to subtle inhibitory cues
 Intoxicated individuals behave in an extremely aggressive manner

Alcohol Aggression
 Pharmacological Disinhibition Model
 Behavioral control and Primitive intuitions
 Alcohol-aggression expectancies
 Predictions to aggression and consumption
 Executive Cognitive Functioning (ECF)
 Impaired to “high-order” cognitive ability
 Culture of Violence

Cultural Factors of
Drinking
Topics
 The largest forms of alcohol abuse in America (Binge drinking)
 Anti-alcohol advertisements
 The factors that form the views that various societies have about alcohol consumption
 Personal CCE reflection

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9hdkDTaQ
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Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Long/short term effects of binge drinking
Short term
• Slurred speech
• Drowsiness
• Vomiting
• Blackouts
• Impaired judgment
Long term
• Unintentional injuries such as car crash, falls, burns, drowning
• Alcohol poisoning
• High blood pressure, stroke, and other heart-related diseases
• Ulcers

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking
 A population that drinks daily may have a high rate of:
 Cirrhosis (Chronic liver damage from a variety of causes leading to scarring and liver failure)
 Other medical problems
 But few:
 accidents, fights, homicides, or other violent alcoholassociated traumas.
 Whereas a population with predominantly binge drinking usually shows the opposite complex of drinking problems…

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Binge drinking
 A group that views drinking as a ritually significant act such as is not likely to develop many alcoholrelated problems of any sort, whereas another group, which sees it primarily as a way to escape from stress or to demonstrate one's strength, is at high risk of developing problems with drinking.
 http://www.worldlifeexpect
ancy.com/cause-ofdeath/alcohol/by-country/ https://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/alcohol/

Binge drinking:
Harming yourself and others
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otR8V7rlnjA
 Someone is waiting for you to come home…
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eubWYPhcE
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Cultural Factors of alcohol:
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Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Advertisements

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Advertisements

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Around the world

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Different societies
 "One striking feature of drinking...is that it is essentially a social act.”
 Heath, D.B., "An Anthropological View of Alcohol and Culture in
International Perspective," pp. 328-347 in Heath, D.B., ed.,
International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture, Greenwood Press,
Westport, CT, 1995, p. 334.

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
SES
 Higher-SES Americans are more likely to drink, but also more likely to drink without problems, than lower-SES Americans.
 Hilton, M.E., "Demographic Characteristics and the Frequency of Heavy Drinking as Predictors of Self-reported Drinking
Problems," British Journal of Addiction, 1987, Vol. 82, 913-925.

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Sociocultural variants
 "Sociocultural variants are just as important as physiological and psychological variants when we are trying to understand the interrelations of alcohol and human behavior. Ways of drinking and of thinking about drinking are learned by individuals within the context in which they learn ways of doing other things and of thinking about them.”
 “example, exhortation, rewards, punishments, and the many other means, both formal and informal, that societies use for communicating norms, attitudes, and values."
 Heath, D.B., "Sociocultural Variants in Alcoholism," pp. 426-440 in
Pattison, E.M., and Kaufman, E., eds., Encyclopedic Handbook of
Alcoholism, Gardner Press, New York, 1982, p. 438.

Cultural Factors of alcohol:
Society's Teachings
 "Over the course of socialization, people learn about drunkenness what their society `knows' about drunkenness; and, accepting and acting upon the understandings thus imparted to them, they become the living confirmation of their society's teachings."
 MacAndrew, C., and Edgerton, R.B., Drunken
Comportment: A Social Explanation, Aldine, Chicago, 1969, p. 88.

My Cross Cultural
Experience with alcohol
 Bangkok, Thailand
 Drinking age: 18
 US $1= 32 baht
 1 liter of beer = 40 baht
 Very cheap, easily accessible.

Rosebud, South Dakota USA

Cuernavaca, Mexico

Discussion questions
 Do you think that most people would understand the severity of their drinking habits?
 Do you think people are pressured into drinking?
Why or why not?
 Do you think the American government has adequate drinking laws?
 What can you do for someone who you think has a drinking problem?
 Do you think Alcohol is crucial to mankind?

References
(For History and Health)
 IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology , 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "Alcohols".
 "Minimum Age Limits Worldwide". International Center for Alcohol Policies. Retrieved 2009-09-
20.
 Arnold, John P (2005).
Origin and History of Beer and Brewing: From Prehistoric Times to the
Beginning of Brewing Science and Technology . Cleveland, Ohio: Reprint Edition by Beer
Books. ISBN 0-9662084-1-2
 Alcohol: Global status Report on Alcohol and Health. 2014. Luxembourg. World Health
Organization.
 Chermack, Stephen T. and Giancola, peter R. The Relation between Alcohol and Aggression:
An Integrated Biopsychosocial Conceptualization. 1997. Clinical psychology review.
 Chick, Jonathan. Alcohol, Health, and the Heart: Implications for Clinicians. Edinburgh, UK.
1998. Alcohol Problems Clinic, Royal Edinburgh.
 Room, Robin and Babor, Thomas and Rehm, Jurgen. Alcohol and public health. 2005. Lancet.