Hispanic use of juramentos and Roman Catholic Priests as auxiliaries to abstaining from alcohol use/misuse

Abstract

This self-administered mail survey study conducted along the US–Mexico border replicates and expands on research conducted in Florida regarding the prevalence of juramento use as an intervention technique for alcohol misuse. Juramentos are pledges to abstain from alcohol use for a time determined by the user. The pledge is usually to the Virgin of Guadalupe and is often done in the presence of a Roman Catholic Priest. As in Florida, the majority of Priests along the border reported they were familiar with the practice of juramentos and had already witnessed at least one. The majority of Priests who had done juramentos viewed them as effective. Since the vast majority of Priests indicated that they would begin or continue witnessing juramentos, this makes juramentos and Roman Catholic Priests a viable culturally sensitive aide for treatment among Hispanics, in particular those of Mexican descent.

Keywords:

• hispanic
• alcoholism
• religious beliefs
• folk medicine
• US–Mexico border
• substance abuse treatment

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge Dr. Louis Lieberman, deceased November 2013, for all of his intellectual contributions without which this project and manuscript would not have happened.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by DHHS/NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse [5R24DA029989-03], Project Title: UTEP DIDARP: Vulnerability Issues in Drug Abuse (VIDA).