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Disease Concept of Alcoholism
Reprint of 1960 Edition. Jellinek was the founder of the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies and several other research centers. Jellinek coined the expression "the disease concept of alcoholism", and significantly accelerated the movement towards the medicalization of drunkenness and alcohol habituation. This book was considered the most careful and penetrating analysis of its theme up to its time of publication. In 1960 he left Yale to develop work on alcoholism for the World Health Organization and other research centers concerned with the study of alcoholism. The Disease Concept of Alcoholism is now considered a classic work in the field.
258 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1988
About the author
E. Morton Jellinek
7 booksElvin Morton "Bunky" Jellinek (15 August 1890 – 22 October 1963), E. Morton Jellinek, or most often, E. M. Jellinek, was an American biostatistician, physiologist, and an alcoholism researcher, fluent in nine languages and able to communicate in four others.
The son of Markus Erwin Marcel Jellinek (1858–1939) and Rose Jellinek (1867–1966), née Jacobson (a.k.a. the opera singer Marcella Lindh), he was born in New York City and died at the desk of his study at Stanford University on 22 October 1963.
From Wikipedia
The son of Markus Erwin Marcel Jellinek (1858–1939) and Rose Jellinek (1867–1966), née Jacobson (a.k.a. the opera singer Marcella Lindh), he was born in New York City and died at the desk of his study at Stanford University on 22 October 1963.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 20, 2016
I have a new shelf on Goodreads entitled "yay-for-citations," because I read Paying for It, which led me to Addiction Is a Choice, which led me to this book. To me, Addiction is a Choice made it sound like Jellinek had pulled the disease model of addiction out of his hat, which is a long way from the reality of this wide-ranging, thoroughly-researched, well-written book.
E.M. Jellinek did most of his work on alcoholism and other forms of addiction under the auspices of the World Health Organization, so in this book he is less interested in defining the disease model than in explaining where it came from and how it is seen differently in various communities. One example of this is his comparison of what counts as an "alcohol problem" in various countries. In the United States, drinking, even drinking to excess, is considered normal on social occasions, so "alcoholism" is when a person drinks for no reason, or can't keep from drinking on all occasions. On the other hand, Jellinek makes a compelling case that because of the cultural importance assigned to wine, most people in France have a low level of alcohol in their blood all the time, so only being visibly intoxicated is considered "problem drinking." I don't know if these differences in interpretation still apply sixty years after this book was written, but I found the medical and legal implications laid out for them fascinating.
The book was weirdly enjoyable for me. My husband commented that I was probably the only person who laughed out loud at it, but Jellinek's style is wonderfully wry, making it clear that research in progress is a messy, uncertain affair. I borrowed the book through interlibrary loan (hence the "did-not-finish" tag; have to return ILLs on time), so I don't have it with me, but I think at one point he says something to the effect of, "I, too, used to believe [some tenuous connection between alcoholism and a particular biochemical reaction]. I don't remember why."
I don't know if I should recommend this book. It's likely to be difficult to find, and I'm not sure it will appeal to anyone who doesn't share both my interest in addiction and in the ways culture affects every aspect of our lives, including science. It worked for me, though.
E.M. Jellinek did most of his work on alcoholism and other forms of addiction under the auspices of the World Health Organization, so in this book he is less interested in defining the disease model than in explaining where it came from and how it is seen differently in various communities. One example of this is his comparison of what counts as an "alcohol problem" in various countries. In the United States, drinking, even drinking to excess, is considered normal on social occasions, so "alcoholism" is when a person drinks for no reason, or can't keep from drinking on all occasions. On the other hand, Jellinek makes a compelling case that because of the cultural importance assigned to wine, most people in France have a low level of alcohol in their blood all the time, so only being visibly intoxicated is considered "problem drinking." I don't know if these differences in interpretation still apply sixty years after this book was written, but I found the medical and legal implications laid out for them fascinating.
The book was weirdly enjoyable for me. My husband commented that I was probably the only person who laughed out loud at it, but Jellinek's style is wonderfully wry, making it clear that research in progress is a messy, uncertain affair. I borrowed the book through interlibrary loan (hence the "did-not-finish" tag; have to return ILLs on time), so I don't have it with me, but I think at one point he says something to the effect of, "I, too, used to believe [some tenuous connection between alcoholism and a particular biochemical reaction]. I don't remember why."
I don't know if I should recommend this book. It's likely to be difficult to find, and I'm not sure it will appeal to anyone who doesn't share both my interest in addiction and in the ways culture affects every aspect of our lives, including science. It worked for me, though.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review