Alcoholism in America
Subtitle: From Reconstruction to Prohibition
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: May 25, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9780801881190
Subjects: Alcoholism; c 1800 to c 1900; c 1900 - c 1914; Self-Help; Hospitals; United States - General; Medical; USA; Substance Abuse & Addictions - Alcoholism; History / United States / General; History; General; Treatment; United States
First sentence: On the eve of the U.S. Centennial, the American Medical Association convened in Philadelphia, where founder of the American temperance movement Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence.
Description: "Despite the lack of medical consensus regarding alcoholism as a disease, many people readily accept the concept of addiction as a clinical as well as a social disorder. An alcoholic is a victim of social circumstance and genetic destiny. Although one might imagine that this dual approach is a reflection of today's enlightened and sympathetic society, historian Sarah Tracy discovers that efforts to medicalize alcoholism are anything but new." "Alcoholism in America tells the story of physicians, politicians, court officials, and families struggling to address the increasing danger of excessive alcohol consumption at the turn of the century. Beginning with the formation of the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates in 1870 and concluding with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920, this study examines the effect of the disease concept on individual drinkers and their families and friends, as well as the ongoing battle between policymakers and the professional medical community for jurisdiction over alcohol problems."--BOOK JACKET.