Despite the lack of medical consensus regarding alcoholism as a disease, many people readily accept the concept of addiction as a clinical as well as a social disorder. An alcoholic is a victim of social circumstance and genetic destiny. Although one might imagine that this dual approach is a reflection of today's enlightened and sympathetic society, historian Sarah Tracy discovers that efforts to medicalize alcoholism are anything but new. Alcoholism in America tells the story of physicians, politicians, court officials, and families struggling to address the danger of excessive alcohol consumption at the turn of the century. Beginning with the formation of the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates in 1870 and concluding with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920, this study examines the effect of the disease concept on individual drinkers and their families and friends, as well as the ongoing battle between policymakers and the professional medical community for jurisdiction over alcohol problems. Tracy captures the complexity of the political, professional, and social negotiations that have characterized the alcoholism field both yesterday and today. Tracy weaves American medical history, social history, and the sociology of knowledge into a narrative that probes the connections among reform movements, social welfare policy, the specialization of medicine, and the social construction of disease. Her insights will engage all those interested in America's historic and current battles with addiction.

Outstanding. This work combines one of the finest surveys of the alcoholism field for this period with some of the best institutional research I've seen. Tracy's command of the inebriety and alcoholism field is unrivaled. -- Joseph Spillane, University of Florida

About the Author
Sarah W. Tracy is a Reach for Excellence Associate Professor, Honors College, University of Oklahoma.

Reviews
Fascinating. Tracy's book tells a compelling and revelatory story. New England Journal of Medicine 2006 Any reader interested in the subjects of alcoholism or addiction will find it worthwhile. History: Reviews of New Books 2006 A pathbreaking argument about what medicalization meant for patients as well as doctors and, more generally, American culture. Journal of American Culture 2006 Essential reading for any clinician with a historical bent. This valuable monograph traces the tension between moralism and science in the understanding of alcoholism. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 2006 Tracy sets a new standard of sophistication in this lucid exposition of alcohol as 'a complicated cultural signifier.' Journal of American History 2006 One of the signal achievements of Alcoholism in America is its thorough historicization of modern understandings of alcohol abuse. Reviews in American History 2006 Offers historical insight into the sources and solutions to alcohol-related problems... This book will find many appreciative audiences. -- William L. White Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 2006 Meticulous and smart... An important contribution to the field of alcohol and temperance history. -- Elaine Frantz Parsons American Historical Review 2006 This excellent volume reworks intellectual territory opened up in the 1970s and 1980s by members of the Alcohol Research Group. -- Katherine A. Chavigny Journal of the History of Medicine 2006 The most interesting aspect of the book is her analysis of the complex mix of medical and moral considerations that informed the approach to alcoholism over the period. -- Luc Berlivet Medical History 2007 Tells new and important histories of people's efforts to find a cure for themselves or others and provides examples of heartbreaking failures. Her book enriches our reading of reform in this period. -- Rachel E. Bohlmann Annals of Iowa 2006 [Tracy's] fine book illuminates a neglected and often misunderstood chapter in the history of alcohol and alcoholism. JAMA 2008 This is an excellent book... full of interesting case studies, anecdotes and historical insights. It is well worth reading by all of those who have an interest in the way in which we currently construe alcohol policy, and is a brimful of reminders that we are regularly in danger of reinventing the heel unless we carefully study the history of this ubiquitous and puzzling problem. -- E.B. Ritson Alcohol and Alcoholism 2009



Book Information
ISBN 9780801881190
Author Sarah W. Tracy
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 27mm