Drinking, Conduct Disorder, and Social Change: Navajo Experiences - Hardcover

Kunitz, Stephen J.; Levy, Jerrold E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195136152 ISBN 13: 9780195136159

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Based on interviews with more than a thousand Navajo Indian men and women, this book examines the associations between childhood experiences and behavior and the development of alcohol dependence in adulthood. Because Navajo life has changed markedly over the past two generations, it also examines the role of urbanization and universal school in reshaping Navajo youth and considers the implications for changing patterns of alcohol use in adulthood. In addition the book explores a wide range of timely issues such as domestic violence, factors associated with resistance to alcohol abuse as well as remission and recovery, the treatment and prevention of alcohol dependence, and the implications of pursuing either population-based preventive interventions or interventions focussed on high risk individuals or groups.

About this title

About the Author

Jerrold E. Levy, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.

Review

"This comprehensive account of 30 years of research focuses on issues related to alcohol use/abuse among the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. The stories of the participants are excellent views of the problem and examples of how some have coped."--Choice
Middletown, CT, May 2001

"The many issues confounding the culture of the Navajos are presented in this book, and the main focus is on the problem of alcohol dependency. The determination of the risk factor of conduct disorder before the age of 15 is a starting point for prevention, but in the overall scheme of the
prevelance of alcohol dependency in the entire population, it is actually a small risk factor. This poses a dilemma when considering the availability of limites resources for prevention and intervention. I agree with the authors' conclusion that the global issues of alcohol dependency found in this
research are relevant to the general population. The complex problems of alcohol dependency facing all cultures support a strong arguement that use of many modalities will meet the diverse needs of all." --Doody's

"Drinking, Conduct Disorder, and Social Change is, without question, Kunitz and Levy's finest contribution to the literature on American Indian drinking and a work that is likely to inform discussions of the Navajo experience with alcohol for years to come...the most comprehensive analysis of
an American Indian experience with alcohol er have to date in the published literature."--Medical Anthropology Quarterly2001

"Under a single cover, this book presents a rigorous analysis of drinking within the Navajo reservation across three types of communities(border towns, Indian agency towns, and rural)...In summary, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in alcohol consumption among Native
Americans...represents the high standard against which subsequent works will be judged."--Wicazo Sa Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0195136152
• ISBN 13: 9780195136159
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262