Does endorsement of the disease concept of alcoholism predict humanitarian attitudes to alcoholics?
Crawford JR; Thomson NA; Gullion FE; Garthwaite P Department of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, U.K. It has been widely assumed that the disease concept of alcoholism is a powerful vehicle for the promotion of humanitarian attitudes to alcoholics. However, Crawford and Heather have argued that individual differences in attitudes to alcoholics are liable to be a reflection of broader attitudes to deviancy rather than a function of endorsement/rejection of a disease conception. This argument was subjected to empirical scrutiny by means of a questionnaire distributed to 200 members of the public. The questionnaire (1) measured attitudes to four deviant groups–alcoholics, drug addicts, compulsive gamblers, and juvenile delinquents–and (2) recorded whether respondents endorsed or rejected a disease conception of these deviant conditions. Attitudes to the non-alcoholic deviant groups were better predictors of humanitarian attitudes to alcoholics than was endorsement of a disease concep
