Alcohol Problem Intervention in the Workplace: Employee Assistance Programs and Strategic Alternatives

Since the 1950s, social scientists have devoted serious attention to the relationship between alcohol and the workplace. In recent years, awareness of the tremendous costs, both human and financial, associated with alcoholism has led to a dramatic increase in both scholarly and practical interest in the field. Although researchers working in this area are relatively few, they have sustained a lively interest in the alcohol/work nexus and have attracted others to the field through conferences where ideas and research strategies are exchanged. The larger part of Alcohol Problem Intervention in the Workplace provides an up-to-date thorough examination of the problem, the research, and the possible solutions.

This volume is directed toward both practitioners and researchers, providing a wide range of new data and new ideas that bear upon coping with alcohol problems in the workplace. Part I addresses issues regarding the distribution and correlates of alcohol problems and alcohol use among employees. Part II is centered on issues associated with Employee Assistance Programs. And Part III is a general conclusion and overview offering suggestions and implications for the practitioner in the workplace. Because this collection supplies the most current thinking and information on controlling alcohol problems in the workplace, it will be of particular interest to human resource management and to employee assistance specialists, who are now required to pass a certification examination.

Since the 1950s, social scientists have devoted serious attention to the relationship between alcohol and the workplace. In recent years, awareness of the tremendous costs, both human and financial, associated with alcoholism has led to a dramatic increase in both scholarly and practical interest in the field. Although researchers working in this area are relatively few, they have sustained a lively interest in the alcohol/work nexus and have attracted others to the field through conferences where ideas and research strategies are exchanged. The larger part of Alcohol Problem Intervention in the Workplace provides an up-to-date thorough examination of the problem, the research, and the possible solutions. This volume is directed toward both practitioners and researchers, providing a wide range of new data and new ideas that bear upon coping with alcohol problems in the workplace. Part I addresses issues regarding the distribution and correlates of alcohol problems and alcohol use among employees. Part II is centered on issues associated with Employee Assistance Programs. And Part III is a general conclusion and overview offering suggestions and implications for the practitioner in the workplace. Because this collection supplies the most current thinking and information on controlling alcohol problems in the workplace, it will be of particular interest to human resource management and to employee assistance specialists, who are now required to pass a certification examination.

PAUL M. ROMAN is Professor of Sociology and Director, Center for Research on Deviance, Institute of Behavioral Research, University of Georgia.