Treatment Paternalism in Chemical Dependency Counselors

Abstract

This study investigated the degree of paternalism in the treatment philosophies of chemical dependency counselors in three categories of treatment center: adolescent-only, adult, and religious/minority. Counselors were shown picture arrays of either adolescent patients or adult patients and asked to choose a preferred treatment policy, either paternalistic or compensatory in nature. Results showed religious/minority counselors preferred a significantly greater paternalistic approach to all patients than did the adolescent-only and adult center counselors. The adolescent-only counselors responded more paternalistically to the adolescent patients than the adult patients, while the adult and religious/minority counselors did not respond significantly different to either group

Key Words:

• Adolescent alcoholism
• Alcoholism counselors
• Paternalism
• Medical model
• Recovered counselors