Proceedings of Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues, International Conference, Alba Iulia, Romania, 28-29 August 2009

Proceedings of Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues, International Conference, Alba Iulia, Romania, 28-29 August 2009, Victor Tudor Rosu, Marius Rotar (editors), Cluj Napoca, Accent, 2009
ABSTRACTS:

BETWEEN SUPPORT, LACK OF INTEREST AND MOCKERY. PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF ALCOHOLISM AND ANTI-ALCOHOLISM IN SERBIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF 20TH CENTURY
Petar ATANACKOVIĆ

ABSTRACT: End of 19th and beginning of 20th century was the time when problem of alcoholism became visible in the public in Serbia. Intensive public interest for the problem itself and the possible ways of its solutions was the confirmation of this fact. One of manifestations of this change was appearance of the anti-alcoholic (abstinence) societies, whose activities evoke different reactions from the State and wide public. Intention of this text is to show the scale of the problem of alcoholism, from the perspective of anti-alcoholic societies, and to show reactions of the public (press, other civil societies, institutions and citizens) on their activities. What was the perception of alcoholism, and what was the perception of activities of anti-alcoholic societies in 3 different socio-political contexts (in Serbia, Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia)? Whether the activities of abstinence societies visible in the media? How were reacting other civil societies and institutions, and how were reacting citizens (ordinary people) on those activities?
FACT OR FICTION?AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF ALCOHOLOSM[1]
Hasso SPODE

ABSTRACT. Alcohol consumption has accompanied the human species since millennia, alcoholism, however, has not. The annals are well full of records of drunkards like the Spartan king Cleomenes who drank his wine in the “Scythian fashion”, i.e. unmixed, and who in a state of intoxication fell into his sword - like Alexander the Great or imperator Tiberius, a deterrent example of excess. Although the boundaries between permissible and impermissible, use and misuse (usus and abusus), were always assessed controversial, there was no doubt that frequent indulging oneself in wine or beer is a vice that may result in various diseases. Some authors even defined drunkenness as a temporary “wilful insanity”. However, nobody imagined the existence of a mental disease characterised by the necessity to drink. This notion is a result of the modern idea of man.

[1] This article is based upon my congress lecture “Sucht – Faktum oder Fiktion?” In: Karl-Friedrich Wessels et al. (eds.): Menschenbilder in der Medizin – Medizin in den Menschenbildern, Bielefeld 1999.
ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOLISM IN WOMEN EVERYDAYS IN THE ROMANIAN SPACE (1850-1940)
Iulia Adina POP

ABSTRACT. Recent research on the history of women in Romanian historiography has eliminated several preconceptions that history had assumed about behaviours considered to be far too contemporary to be discussed in connection with past societies. The collective representations of alcohol and its medical or social effects remained long subordinated to a masculine approach, given that the studies of the time either focus on the integrative and general treatment of the problem, or follow male case studies exclusively. Few specialists had taken into consideration female alcoholism prior to the end of the 19th century; therefore we tend to think that it were the applicable social norms that protected such behaviour by an excessive chastity imposed upon women. This does not mean however that women were not affected, directly or indirectly, by this flaw. Beginning with the second half of the 19th century, alcoholism raised ardent discussions among specialists of various fields, such as medicine or law, and it was also emphasized in moralizing or folkloric popular works. The identification of the effects it had on the everydays of women must be included into what we now call gender history, because, as many researchers of this phenomenon claim, alcoholism is one the oldest and most constant human manifestations.
VITICULTURE IN ALBA COUNTY
Adriana ŢUŢUIANU, Daniela Elena CUCUI, Adina GOŞA


ABSTRACT. On the territory of Alba County, tradition of cultivating vine and producing wine date from the Dacian and Roman period, fact proven by archaeological discoveries (Dacian pruning knives, funerary monuments or votive altars which are decorated with vines and bunches of grapes, stone beds from winepresses). Next, the study discusses: the attestation of vines (from donations, privileges or litigations documents); the viticulture tools as related to the agricultural inventory or as special tools; the process of traditional peasant vinification.
INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE PREVENTION
Patrick Dimitris AKRIVOS


ABSTRACT. This article explores susbtance dependence prevention oppossed to substance dependnece education. It explores scientific research on the psychological-medical model of susbtance dependence and proposes prevention supported by research. Individual psychology offers a framework that support the medical model and at the same timeoofers comprehensive prevention strategies.


THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE MINNESOTA MODEL OF ADDICTIONS TREATMENT WITH THE ROMANIAN CULTURE

Floyd FRANTZ

ABSTRACT. Over the past 50 years research has shown that the Minnesota Model of addictions treatment is an effective method of treating alcoholism and drug addiction in the United States. It is based in medicine, psychology and the social sciences, but because it uses a clinical adaptation of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is at its very heart a recovery program based in spirituality. Having used this program in Romania over the past 9 years, we have found it to be amendable to the Romanian culture and society. It greatest strength is its bio/psycho/social/spiritual approach with the support of the existing recovering community of Alcoholics Anonymous. It greatest weakness is the expense involved in having interdisciplinary teams, the necessity of training in a new paradigm, and generally the difficulty of introducing the disease concept of addictions to the society at large.
PSYCHOLOGYCAL MODELS OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
Ioana TODOR

ABSTRACT. In this paper are presented several of the most influential psychological models which attempt to explain the underlying mechanisms of alcohol dependence. According to the classical conditioning theory, stimuli or environmental conditions that are repeatedly associated with alcohol consumption become conditioned stimuli that trigger the urge to drink. From the classical behaviorist perspective, addiction is a learned behavior, being perpetuated by its consequences: positive reinforcements (e.g. expected states of relaxation, joy, euphoria etc.) or negative reinforcements (e.g. expected effects of alcohol on tension reduction, reduction of feelings of insecurity, anxiety etc). The social learning theory emphasizes the role of social factors and the role of cognitive mechanisms of self-regulation in the etiology of alcoholism. From the cognitive perspective, alcohol dependence is the result of complex interactions between predisposing factors (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem etc.), maintenance factors (particular personality patterns - e.g. borderline, dependent or antisocial - and environmental triggers - conflict, failure etc).
SPIRITUALITY OF THE ADDICTION. ALCOHOL: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
Fr. Iulian NEGRU

ABSTRACT. Alcohol/Spiritus (lat.) is a material substance which has the same effect upon the brain as the psychological/spiritual causes: anger, sadness, fear, etc. “Drunkenness” is a consciously changed state of being. You can get it without alcohol. Non-alcoholic drunkenness could be worse than the alcoholic drunkenness. Alcohol is only one of the causes which can cause drunkenness. Alcohol addiction is only a symptom of the real problem. Addiction is a symptom of the spiritual emptiness and consequence of a lack of meaning in life. Alcohol addiction is a spiritual matter and therefore needs a spiritual approach. So, recovery means alcoholic drunkenness to be changed with divine drunkenness, to be dependent upon God, rather than drugs for a sense of wellness in being.


“THE EVILS OF ARDENT SPIRITS”: QUAKERS AND TEMPERANCE
IN EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY AUSTRALIA
Judy STOVE

ABSTRACT. It is often maintained that the nineteenth-century Temperance movement began as what is called an elitist push for the restriction of the lower-class pleasures such as spirit drinking. This paper takes the view that the anti-spirits movement, introduced to Australia in the 1830s by Quaker missionaries James Backhouse and George Washington Walker, may have had its genesis in the Quaker belief in each person’s internal moral compass. It will also have owed much to the well-known phenomenon of Quaker pragmatism.
SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS: TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLISM IN A MULTI-CULTURAL SOCIETY
Wilfried K. KOEHLER

ABSTRACT. The following study discusses different issues regarding the sources, the characteristics, and the treatment of alcoholism in Germany, from a multi-cultural perspective, concerning the population with a immigration background.

“100 grams for Victory!” or the dilemmas of collective memory in the Republic of Moldova

Ludmila COJOCARI

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the significance of the ritual of „100 grams of vodka for the Victory Day!” practiced in the Republic of Moldova at the initiative of communist authorities (2001-2009) in the context of commemoration of the „victory over fascism”. The collective consumption of alcohol in the symbolic perimeter of the „Victory Day” every time provokes different opinions and attitudes depending on the perception of this ritual in the context of cultural and, respectively, historical memory. The research analyzes the phenomenon of „100 grams of vodka for the Victory Day!” without missing the initiatives of the officials pointed towards the construction of their own ideological narrative of the WW II.


BACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLIC PATIENTS

I. MARINCU, L. NEGRUŢIU, I. IACOBICIU, Ioana TODOR, A.M. NEGHINĂ, M. CORNIANU, R. NEGHINĂ

ABSTRACT. The Objective is the study of prevalence and etiological spectrum of bacterial infections at a group of chronic alcoholic patients. Concerning the patiens and methods, the authors studied retrospectively 42 chronic alcoholic patients hospitalized in Clinic of Infectious Diseases Timisoara. The positive diagnostic was established by epidemiological elements, clinical-objective elements, associated with biological samples, and paraclinics results. The statistic data was processes with the help of Epi Info program. As results, out of 42 monitorized patients, 26 patients were diagnosticated with acute pneumonia, 18 patients with acute bronchitis, 15 patients with chronic bronchitis, 12 patients with acute tonsillitis, 8 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 18 patients with skin infections, 8 patients with erysipelas, 14 patients with urinary infections, 6 patients with acute meningitis, 16 patients with acute enterocolitis etc. Only for 32 patients the etiological agent was established. As conclusions, high prevalence of bacterial infections in chronic alcoholic patients require improving of prophylaxis measures and treatment.
PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLIC PATIENS

I. MARINCU, L. NEGRUŢIU, I. IACOBICIU, Ioana TODOR, A.M. NEGHINĂ, M. CORNIANU, R. NEGHINĂ

ABSTRACT. Objectives: to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in an group of chronic alcoholic patients. Methods: the authors studied retrospectively 34 chronic alcoholic patients hospitalized. The positive diagnostic was established by epidemiological elements, clinical-objective elements, biological samples and paraclinics results. The determination of viral markers was effectuated using the ELISA method with Sanofi Pasteur tests. Results: out of 34 monitorized patients, 4 patients was diagnosticated with HCV infection. All 4 patients with Ab anti HCV presented risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection: 2 patients with history for blood transfusions, 2 with abdominal surgery, all patients with history for multiples stomatological treatments. Abdominal echographic ultrasound for all 4 patients with Ab anti HCV, hepatic steatosis, along hepatomegaly, splenomegaly was detected. The values of biological samples and histopathological examination results confirmed diagnostic of chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis. Conclusions: the study of the prevalence of HCV infection in chronic alcoholic patients allows usage of the specific prophylaxis and therapeutic measures for the two diseases in these patients.

ALCOHOLISM AS GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN GREEK-CATHOLIC COMMUNITY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH AND THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Monica MUREŞAN

ABSTRACT. The Greek-Catholic community of Transylvania, by the evident approach to the strictness characteristic to Catholicism, outlined for itself a rigorous image and conduct in the modern age. It became very attentive in managing the moral problems of society. Thus, divorce, in the strict sense of the word, was not accepted, only the annulment of marriage, a process which could last several years because of the delay of ecclesiastic courts. Because of this reason the grounds referred to in order to obtain the permission to separate the more serious had to be, the greater the strictness was. During the whole period we studied, alcoholism represents one of the main grounds for divorce referred to both by women and men. In most cases alcoholism was accompanied by violence in the case of men and depravity in the case of women. Therefore a difference in attitude can be observed generated by the sex of the person blamed for this social vice: drunkard women were much more severely condemned than men with same problem.
ALCOHOLISM AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETY: INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Naima KHATOON

ABSTRACT. The impact of alcohol use can have different implications for each community and policies and programmes need to be developed taking into account the local situation. Recognition of the consequences of Alcohol use on physical and mental health as well as socio-occupational life is a necessary step for initiating appropriate action to reduce the harm from alcohol use. In the absence of rational alcohol policies, and with the belief that alcohol revenues can be used for the development of the society, the problem has aggravated further. While revenues earned yield only short term gains. The present paper highlights the menace of Alcoholism related to above aspects with special reference to India.

ALCOHOLISM, A SOCIAL PHENOMENON IN THE ROMANIAN TERRITORIES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Oana Mihaela Tămaş


ABSTRACT. The following paper wishes to bring forward the anti-alcoholism measures and strategies using a multiple discourse of the modern Romanian society. Within this frame the head poster for this actions (measures) are supported by public opinion which proves the most active. Beside society, we are discussing about a religious, medical and legal anti-alcoholism discourse. More than a multi-discourse, the paper wishes to present the campaign to educate and inform the population concerning the effects that alcohol has on the life of the nineteenth century Romanian. The focus is on the development (evolution) of alcohol from its initial use as a medicine, then as to reach an excess consumption, to a disease, a scourge, a phenomenon. Public opinion plays an important role in the campaign to educate and inform regarding anti-alcoholism.
The anti-alcoholism action in Soviet Moldova
beetwen 1985-1987

Virgiliu BÎRLĂDEANU

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the impact of the anti-alcoholism action, developed in the Soviet Union during the period 1985-87, on the social and economic development of the Soviet Moldova. The author argues, relaying on the investigations of the USSR experience in promoting the anti-alcoholism action, that this kind of administrative initiatives, without a socio-economic base and a multidimensional reform, were very close to compromise its finalities and destabilise the economic and social situation. In the Soviet Moldova the abuses of hierarchical administrative system produced a consistent decrease of vineyards, which consequences are still today visible in the Republic of Moldova.
DRUGS OF THE WORKING CLASSES”. THE SUBSTITUES OF LEGAL VODKA IN INTERWAR POLAND
Adrian ZANDBERG


ABSTRACT. This paper analyses how Polish consumers reacted to the policy of the alcohol monopoly in the interwar period. During the economic depression monopoly initially ignored the fall of real incomes.This policy translated into decreased legal consumption of alcohol. Large groups of consumers turned to illegal alternatives. This paper examines four major substitutes of legal vodka: illicit distillation, smuggle, consumption of denatured alcohol and ether drinking.
A SOCIAL STUDY OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN ALBA COUNTY
Claudiu ŞTEFANI


ABSTRACT. The aim of the paper is to study the patterns of alcohol consumption and the prevalence of different types of drinking regarding population. For this, a household survey was carried out in a sample of 514 subjects in the Alba County. The results show that 73% of the sample used to drink alcohol and 27% were abstinents. Overall consumption was significantly related to gender (male), marital status (married) and material status. No significant differences were found regarding educational status, ethnicity and living conditions (town or village). The results also revelead that the main features of social patterns of alcohol consumption are: alcohol is integrated in the family life, it is associated to social and religous rituals; there is a social model of use which encorages moderation, beer and wine-based drinks; alcohol is not a part of the diet consumed regularly during meals, and the initiation of alcohol consumption relatively occurs early in life.
TEMPERANCE AND ABSTINENCE IN TRANSYLVANIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY. THE CASE OF THE THEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION IN BLAJ
Victor-Tudor ROŞU


ABSTRACT. The issue of alcoholism in Romanian history during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century has not been systematically analyzed. In a historiographic landscape that resembles a desert, the oasis comes from the remarkable research pursued by Marius Rotar, which has resulted in several important articles. The following article exhaustively analyzes the documents of The Temperance Reunion of Blaj, and to describe it in its historical context, emphasizing the structure, the actions, the members’ profile, the ideas and resources of anti-alcoholism at the time and other aspects that are characteristic of an anti-alcoholic reunion at the beginning of the 20th century.
ANTI-ALCOHOLISM ACTIONS IN ROMANIA DURING THE INTER-WAR PERIOD
Marius ROTAR


ABSTRACT. The present inquiry tries to analyze the topic of propaganda and multiple measures against alcoholism patterns during the interwar Romania. There are many historical sources regarding this and a survey of these seems to be a very complicate one. We can notice for those times that the existence of a multiple discourses on this topic is an expression of different adopted laws, actions of Romanian Orthodox Church, actions of ASTRA society and so on. The main consequence of the interwar romanian propaganda and due to the actions against alcoholism was the foundation in 1929 of „Temperanţa” League. This league tried to be the best tool in the „war” against alcoholism and in 1937 it became part of the Romanian Health Minister. On the other hand, during that period, the patterns of alcoholism became more and more a medicalized issue and the entire discourse against it tried to make the Romanian society more sensitive regarding the threat of a alcohol addiction.

Also, the influence of western patterns of those times (i.e. American laws of prohibition) had a strong echo in Romanian interwar society.