Differential Patterns of EAP Service Utilization Among University Faculty and Staff

Abstract

Contrary to the prevailing depiction of the university EAP as a narrowly conceived program of information and referral, linking faculty with substance abuse treatment services external to the university, the reported study describes the EAP in a large urban university as a social service agency responding to a broad range of problems, particularly for those whose access to other services is limited. Differences among faculty and staff are explored with respect to the problems for which help was sought and the resources available for their remediation. A consideration of the effects of clients' location in the hierarchy provides a perspective on the redistributive and adaptive functions that the EAP can assume in a complex organiztion where benefits are differentially distributed.