SOCIAL DEFINITIONS OF THE ALCOHOLIC - REASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPUTED RESPONSIBILITY

Ries (1977) found that perceptions of responsibility did not relate to public intolerance for the alcoholic. Several methodological weaknesses call into question this and other results in Ries' path analysis of survey data. A replication of her path analysis using more adequate measures from another public survey clearly supports theories that treat imputed responsibility as a crucial factor in social definitions of the alcoholic. Not only are moral and medical world views found to be substantially and differentially related to imputed responsibility, but responsibility is also found to be a strong predictor of intolerance for alcoholics.