• Research Paper on:
    Alcoholism and Children of Alcoholics

    Number of Pages: 7

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    In seven pages the statement that children of alcoholic parents tend to grow up to become alcoholics is examined in terms of genetic predisposition and family systems with a thorough exploration of systems theory provided. Five sources are cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: RT13_SA302AA.rtf

    Buy This Research Paper »

     

    Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
    but it is not only the fact that children of alcoholics are predisposed to the condition, but also because they have watched their parents go through it and so part  of the reason why children will become alcoholic is environmental. In other words, the exposure to alcoholism in some way influences their choices. One might think that children of alcoholics  would be inclined not to drink because they have watched the deterioration of one or more parents. However, many cycles of addiction or abuse tend to be repeated and involve  complex psychological variables. Simply stated, the phenomenon is at least in part attributable to the fact that the child learns these behaviors at a young age. Also, attitudes about alcoholism  and alcohol may be different from those of other families. For instance, alcoholic families will tend to have a steady supply of liquor whereas in families that do not drink  much, there will only be a scant supply. There will be wine with dinner only occasionally, and there will not be a massive number of empty beer cans or wine  bottles around. Systems theory may help to support this point, but also, it pays to look at the genetic predisposition of children of alcoholics. To prove that children of alcoholics  are more likely to physiologically be alcoholic themselves provides added support for a thesis that supports the idea that the disease runs in families. Several adoption and twin studies have  looked at the contribution of genetic factors to a persons risk for alcoholism and for instance, five adoption studies have evaluated the relationship between alcoholism or problem drinking in biological  parents along with alcoholism in their adopted-away sons (McGue, 1997). With the exception of one small early study, all of the research found a significant correlation between alcoholism in male 

    Back to Research Paper Results