Does Endorsement of the Disease Concept of Alcoholism Predict Humanitarian Attitudes to Alcoholics?

Abstract

It has been widely assumed that the disease concept of alcoholism is a powerful vehicle for the promotion of humanitarian attitudes to alcoholics. However, Crawford and Heather have argued that individual differences in attitudes to alcoholics are liable to be a reflection of broader attitudes to deviancy rather than a function of endorsement/rejection of a disease conception. This argument was subjected to empirical scrutiny by means of a questionnaire distributed to 200 members of the public. The questionnaire (1) measured attitudes to four deviant groups — alcoholics, drug addicts, compulsive gamblers, and juvenile delinquents - and (2) recorded whether respondents endorsed or rejected a disease conception of these deviant conditions. Attitudes to the nonalcoholic deviant groups were better predictors of humanitarian attitudes to alcoholics than was endorsement of a disease conception of alcoholism.