Wolfgang Schmidt

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries alcoholism was seen largely as a vice of the poor and its treatment rested almost entirely with the missions and the workhouse. The theory that alcoholism is a disease that can affect anyone regardless of social position is by no means universally accepted even today. Although in the last twenty-five years there has been a rapid increase in the number of public institutions for the treatment of alcoholics, the possibility remains that class status still influences the diagnosis and care they receive. This study observes a sample of patients of a public clinic, from their source of referral for treatment to termination of therapy, to determine the influences of class position on the therapy used in each case. The findings indicate that specific treatments are assigned along class lines. The authors of this study offer a number of necessary recommendations which ask for a more rational link between therapy and diagnosis than is currently evident in clinical practice. This is an extremely important and topical study, the findings of which are applicable beyond the treatment of alcoholism to the treatment of all behavioural disorders.

The year 1961 marked the beginning of the second decade of operation of the Alcoholism Research Foundation of Ontario. It also marked the end, in certain respects, of a stage in its development as a research organization. The most concrete event in this regard was an amendment to the act governing the Foundation, which added the words 'Drug Addiction' to its name and broadened its legitimate scope to include the study of virtually all forms of addictive behaviour. The year appeared to mark the end of a formative and largely exploratory stage of research and the beginning of a period characterized by a more precise sense of overall direction. This is best revealed through an examination of the history of the Foundation's research endeavour and of the character and results of the numerous projects which have been conducted under its auspices. Such an examination was attempted in the research section of the 1961 Annual Report of the Foundation. However, because of the special purpose and highly restricted readership for which this report was designed, it seemed desirable to publish the material subsequently in a form suitable for wider distribution. Accordingly, the present volume was prepared, and comprises a somewhat revised and expanded version of the original review. It is hoped that it will prove of value not only to research workers but also to those whose primary responsibilities in the alcoholism field are in the realm of treatment, education, or the administration of programs with these functions.