Second Interview
The second person that I interviewed was more open and willing to share life experiences than the first. The interviewee is a nineteen-year-old college student named J T. Both of her parents are alcoholics and she has received counseling for the problems associated with being a child of an alcoholic. A great deal of the conflicts and experiences that J has been through can be explained by the issues mentioned in this paper. Realization of a problem began at the age of five when she remembers asking her parents to get a divorce. The interviewee?s alcoholic parents had a great deal of marital conflict, which is common in alcohol dependent families. On several occasions, the interviewee was blamed for the parental arguments or blamed for the alcoholism of the parent. There were also financial problems due to the constant purchase of alcohol. She has seen the receipts of five or six bottles of vodka and scotch purchased at a time. Because her parents were concerned with their own lives and drinking, she never really had a structured childhood. Ms. T recalls never having a set curfew and never having to prove to her parents where she was going when she went out. This lack of guidance and consistency is another characteristic of alcoholic parents? behavior. Although as a child she was not asked to keep the alcoholism of either parent a secret, the interviewee was often embarrassed to invite friends over. This is a common reaction among children of alcoholics. When she was you, Ms. T got very upset when she would find alcohol hidden around the house. However, as a teenager, she would just take the alcohol and save it for herself. She started drinking at age fourteen and was even given alcohol often as a baby. The family never had any ?fun? family events because most holidays, occasions, or seldom trips were disrupted by alcohol abuse. As in other families, Ms. T?s parents were not very encouraging or supportive in terms of education. They just expected her to do well and punished her when she did not perform to their standards. When asked if she was afraid of becoming an alcoholic, the interviewee responded that she was. Because alcoholism is very abundant in her family, she tries not to fall into the pattern of becoming an alcoholic. She is very careful not to drink when she is upset and does not let alcohol determine if she is having a good time. I believe that the statement made by Ms. T that most encompasses the feeling of being a child of alcoholic parents is this: ?I don?t know what a problem is because I don?t know what normal is.? The life that she has lived as a child of alcoholics is, unfortunately, the only one she knows.
Conclusion
As can be seen by examining the wealth of literature on alcoholism and conducting personal interviews with children of alcoholics, alcoholism is a problem that many families are faced with. Many institutions have been created in order to help the family members that are caught in the web of alcohol abuse. In studying families, it is important to learn more about alcoholic families because they represent a large number of families. Every member of a family is affected by an alcoholic, whether it be in marital problems, child abuse or a host of other problems. Family therapists need to understand the dynamics of a family dealing with alcoholism in order to be successful in aiding the family. More efforts need to be taken to help the innocent victims of alcohol?s devastating wrath. The words or former Senator Paula Hawkins are a call for action: ?In our mutual effort to create a better world for our children, we must ensure that their freedom to develop and grow, from fetus to maturity, is not destroyed because of the disease of alcoholism? (?Alcohol Abuse and its Implications for Families?).
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