Alcoholism: A Six Months' Follow-Up Study of Thirty-One Alcoholics, Former Patients of the In-Patient Rehabilitation Ward, State University Alcohol Clinic, Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, During January 1, 1963 to April 31, 1964

Victor Oren Whitehead, Fordham University

Abstract

This group study was conceived primarily because of the writers’ interest in the subject of alcoholism, and because there was need for a follow-up study of the In-Patient Rehabilitation Ward of the State University Alcohol Clinic. Three of the four participants had worked as student psychiatric social caseworkers on the staff of the State University Alcohol Clinic in Brooklyn, while the fourth member worked for two years in a social group work setting with teenagers, many of whom had problems of alcoholism. The writers had become increasingly aware that alcoholism affects all areas of its victim’s lives, and those of his family. We became interested in the treatment potentiality of the In-Patient Rehabilitation Ward because it seemed to incorporate a multi-faceted program in its approach to the alcoholic patient that might provide a realistic treatment setting. We had observed that the patients who received outpatient clinical care varied considerably in their ability to adequately make use of this care and its services after being referred. Our limited observations were confirmed by the 1963 Annual Report of the State University Alcohol Clinic which reported that of all patients referred for out-patient care, about one-third drop out within the first three appointments, and that patients who were referred from the hospital after receiving treatment for acute alcoholism, had an even higher percentage of early dropouts. It was thought that our social work training would enable us to competently interview the patients in the area of their socio-economic adjustments and their impressions of their treatment experience, and to analyze and interpret the data obtained. This study was formulated in accordance with the overall research program of the State University Alcohol Clinic in its quest for knowledge of the nature of alcoholism in general, and its clientele in particular, and of its application of treatment processes and techniques.

Subject Area

Psychology|Social work

Recommended Citation

Whitehead, Victor Oren, "Alcoholism: A Six Months' Follow-Up Study of Thirty-One Alcoholics, Former Patients of the In-Patient Rehabilitation Ward, State University Alcohol Clinic, Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, During January 1, 1963 to April 31, 1964" (1965). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30308716.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30308716

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