Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

The Alcoholic Habitus: A Socio-Anthropological Eye on Alcoholism

Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Corresponding Author:

Elizabeth Espindola Halpern
Rua Botucatu 460, bloco 4, apartamento 206
Grajaú. CEP: 20.541-340. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Tel: 55 21 32983414
Fax: 55 21 25433202
E-mail: espindolahalpern@yahoo.com.br

Received date: May 28, 2014; Accepted date: September 03, 2014; Published date: September 08, 2014

Citation: Halpern EE, Leite LC (2014) The Alcoholic Habitus: A Socio-Anthropological Eye on Alcoholism. J Addict Res Ther 5:190. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000190

Copyright: © 2014 Halpern EE, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

A pioneering study was conducted at the Center for Chemical Dependency of the Brazilian Navy. The method used was an ethnographic study, with participant observation, to investigate the influence of this institution in the construction of patients? alcoholism. Sampling, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data were conducted in a circular manner. In this article, we present one of the main results of the research, the relevance of the socio-anthropological eye on alcoholism: the alcoholic habitus. It refers to internalized patterns of behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts associated to ways of drinking, mainly collectively. It could be seen that drinking on board is a learned naval tradition, disseminated by beliefs and myths in favor of the presence of alcohol during the work journey. In conclusion, although the results cannot be generalized to other groups, they should motivate further investigations concerning alcoholism in other institutions, mostly to implement protective measures on behalf of the workers and the organization.

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