Family - The Prime Influencer of Alcoholism Among People of Kerala

EXCEL International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies
Vol.2 Issue 3, March 2012, ISSN 2249 8834

Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/
FAMILY THE PRIME INFLUENCER OF ALCOHOLISM

AMONG PEOPLE OF KERALA
DR. HAREESH N RAMANATHAN*
*Professor and Head,
Department of Management Studies,
Toc H Institute of Science and Technology,
Arakunnam, Kochi, Kerala.
ABSTRACT
Article 47 of the Directive Principles of State Policy described in The Indian Constitution says:
"The state shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people as
among its primary duties and in particular, the state shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of
the use except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to
health.
Alcohol policies especially those relating to production, consumption and taxation have varied
widely across the states. But the scenario is totally different in Kerala, a state which is known for
the highest per- capita liquor consumption in India. This paper aims to study the influence exerted
by various family members on liquor consumption of Keralites.
KEYWORDS: Alcohol, Alcohol consumption, Alcoholism, Factors influencing alcoholism.
______________________________________________________________________________
1. INTRODUCTION
During the pre-independence period, Mahatma Gandhi himself issued several strong statements
against the sale and consumption of alcohol and it may be the result of that; Prohibition is
incorporated in the Constitution of India among the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article
47 says: "The state shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and standard of living of its
people as among its primary duties and in particular, the state shall endeavour to bring about
39
Alcohol policies especially those relating to production, consumption and taxation have varied
widely across the states. Alcohol policy and legislation in India is based on political compulsions
rather than the interests of public health. Part of the reason is that there has been little attempt to
examine the economic and social burden generated by alcohol misuse to provide a sound guide
for policy makers.
www.zenithresearch.org.in
Alcohol is one of the commonly consumed intoxicating substances in India. It has traditionally
been drunk in tribal societies, although it has won increasing social acceptance among other
groups. It is easily available and widely used, especially during festivals where we used to
celebrate with joy and colours. Alcohol as a major source of indirect tax revenue has always
been the centre-point of the policy makers' thinking and little pain and consideration were given
to look on to the social aspect and economic consequences.

prohibition of the use except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which
are injurious to health."
But the scenario is totally different in Kerala, a state which is known for the highest per- capita
liquor consumption in India.
2.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to study about the influence of various family members on liquor
consumption of Keralites.
3.
METHODOLOGY
Exploratory followed by a descriptive research design was used in carrying out this study.
The data for this study was collected from 500 respondents located in all the fourteen districts of
Kerala based on the population weightage in each district. Those Keralites who are consuming
alcohol was included as respondents. The respondents for this study were selected from Indian
Made Foreign Liquor retail outlets and bar hotels in Kerala, which are the main liquor selling
venues. The research approach implemented was a survey research.
4.
FAMILY DRINKING IN KERALA
One focus of this study was directed towards home drinking. Questions were angled at finding
drinkers within the house. Out of the total respondents participated in the survey 48.5% claimed
that, their siblings are also drinkers (Table 1). This caters to the majority followed by father
drinkers (45.3%), son (6.5%), wife (6.1%) and the rest. Generally we can term this as a
systematic spread taking place in the household. Lady drinking is slowly catching up and
evidence was reported in this study by people saying that their mother and wife are consuming
40
Parental alcoholism may affect the foetus even before a child is born. In pregnant women,
alcohol is carried to all of the mothers organs and tissues, including the placenta. Today, experts
who study alcoholic families know that family and marital problems often start because of
alcoholism, but they also learned that spouses and children may contribute to the drinkers habit
and make it worse. Some of the families allow heavy drinking to continue rather than deal with
serious family problems, and keep the habit going in exchange for keeping the family together.
Denial is an essential problem for alcoholics and family members. Family members use denial to
rationalize the drinkers alcohol dependency. In the beginning, denial is understandable because
every family loves and wants to protect its members, but there comes a time when denial
negatively affects family members. When family members deny the obvious and refuse to look
for help, their behaviour can trigger multiple emotional problems in the children of the family.
Alcohol use in family is of concern to both researchers and policy makers. There may be
someone in the family, who may be in a position to influence others for drinking, such as father,
siblings, other relatives etc. Alcoholism is also known as a family disease. Alcoholics may have
young, teenage, or grown-up children; they have wives or husbands; they have brothers or
sisters; they have parents or other relatives. Each member of the family may be affected by
alcohol differently.

alcoholic drinks. It can be strongly concluded that, in majority of the cases there are multiple
drinkers inside a single household. There are only 29.7% respondents who say that they are the
single drinker in their family.
TABLE 1 DRINKING HABITS AMONG FAMILY MEMBERS MULTIPLE OPTION
Others Who drink
Frequency
Percent
Father
224
45.3
Mother
1.4
Wife
30
6.1
Son
32
6.5
Daughter
Siblings
240
48.5
Other Members
28
5.7
Nobody in the family
147
29.7
Source: Survey Data

5. THE LIQUOR CONSUMERS VERSUS NON DRINKERS IN A FAMILY
41
It is observed that (Table 2) the mean initiation age for a drinker from a family where
there are no other drinkers existing (Mean Age = 21.91, Std Dev = 5.20) was higher than the case
of a drinker from a family where alcoholics exist (Mean Age = 20.76, Std Dev = 4.98). This
points out that an individual is more influenced by alcoholic members of the family for starting
liquor consumption directly or indirectly and as a result they are tempted to start consumption in
an early age as compared to the other group. It is evident that, non alcoholic group in a family
could at least influence and prolong those who are at the verge of starting liquor consumption.
If we try to group family members based on consumption of alcoholic drinks, probably

we may conclude with two groups. The group consumes alcohol and the other, who does not. It
is obvious that a moral tug of war will take place between these groups. Table 2 explains about
the influence of these two groups on the drinking initiation age of alcoholics. Initiation age is the
age at which one individual starts liquor consumption. This may vary among different group of
individuals based on several socio-cultural as well as demographic factors.

TABLE 2 LIQUOR INITIATION AGE FAMILY INFLUENCE

Age
Consumption Status
Age at first drink
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
Nobody Consumes
146
21.9178
5.20809
.43102
Family members
consumes
341
20.7654
4.98564
.26999
Source: Survey Data

The significance of the above observations was tested using an independent sample t test
and the results are furnished in Table 3. The test was found to be significant (p<0.05) and it can
be conclude that alcoholics in a family is tempting others to start liquor consumption.
TABLE 3 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST FAMILY INFLUENCE
Equal
variances
assumed
.636
Sig.
df
.425 2.30 485
Equal
variances
not
assumed
Sig.
Mean Std. Error
(2Lower Upper
Difference Difference
tailed)
.02
1.15
.49
.17
2.13
2.26 263.78 .02
1.15
.50
.15
2.15
Source: Survey Data

6. FATHER THE INFLUENCER
It is clear from the initial parts of the paper about the influence of alcoholics in a family
on others to start liquor consumption directly or indirectly. This is an attempt to find out the
influence of father in a family who is a drinker and how this will influence the children in
starting liquor consumption.
Age at first drink
95%
Confidence
Interval
t-test for Equality of Means
42
Levene's Test
for Equality
of Variances

TABLE 4 LIQUOR INITIATION AGE INFLUENCE OF FATHER
Consumption Status
Mean
Std.
Std. Error
Deviation
Mean
Father consumes Liquor
221 20.1719 4.46881
.30060
Father Does not Consume Liquor
266 21.8910 5.41481
.33200
Age at first drink
Source: Survey Data

Around 221 respondents out of 487 who had responded with this question say that, their
father consumes liquor. That means around 45.3% of drinkers claims that their father also is a
drinker. When it comes to the case of drinking initiation age, it was found that children from
families where father consumes alcohol is reported to consume liquor at an early age
(Mean Age = 20.17, Std Dev = 4.46) as compared to the other group.
(Mean Age = 21.89, Std Dev = 5.41). This shows that, the drinking habit of father is directly or
indirectly influencing children to start drinking.
In order to validate the significance of the above observations, an independent sample
t test was performed and the results are shown in Table 5. The test was found to be significant
and it can be concluded that there are more chances that, an alcoholic fathers son to become
alcoholic.
TABLE 5 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST FATHERS INFLUENCE ON DRINKING
INITIATION AGE
df
.007 -3.7 485
95%
Confidence
Sig.
Mean Std. Error
(2Lower Upper
tailed)
.000
-1.71
.45
-2.61
-.82
-3.8 484.9 .000
-1.71
.44
-2.59
-.83
7.21
Sig.
43
Equal
variances
assumed
Equal
variances
not
assumed
Age at first drink
Levene's Test

Source: Survey Data

7. MOTHER THE INFLUENCER
Indians may be wondering, if this paper tries to find out the influence exerted by
alcoholic mothers on their childrens liquor consumption habit. Even though low in numbers,
this study proves that, there are mothers who consume liquor. It was observed that, the children
from families where mother consumes alcohol is reported to consume liquor at a very early age
(Mean Age = 16.71, Std Dev = 4.49) as compared to the other group.
(Mean Age = 21.17, Std Dev = 5.05). It is surprising to note that people from families where,
mother is alcoholic tend to start liquor consumption even at the age of 16 years.
Age when
you had
first drink
TABLE 6 LIQUOR INITIATION AGE INFLUENCE OF MOTHER

Consumption Status
Mean Std. Den Std. Error Mean
Mother consumes Liquor
16.7143 4.49868
1.70034
Mother Does not Consume Liquor
480
21.1750 5.05942
.23093
Source: Survey Data

In order to validate the significance of the above observations, an independent sample
t test was performed and the results are shown in Table 7. The test was found to be significant
and it can be concluded that there are more chances for an alcoholic mothers son to become
alcoholic.
TABLE 7 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST MOTHERS INFLUENCE ON DRINKING
INITIATION AGE
Levene's
Test for
Equality of
Variances
Sig.
df
Sig.
Mean Std. Error
(2Lower Upper
tailed)
44
95%
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Age when you had

first drink

Equal
variances
assumed
.147
Equal
variances
not assumed
.701 -2.31 485 .021
-4.460
1.923
-8.24
-.68
-2.60 6.22 .039
-4.46
1.715
-8.62
-.29
Source: Survey Data

7. OTHER MEMBERS THE INFLUENCERS
Kerala is a state where both joint family system and nuclear family system is practised.
The mutual relationship existing between family members is the base for major decision making.
Other than the parents and the siblings, there can be other family members who are influential
and can exert influence on members.
This part of the paper is directed towards finding out the influence of other family
members on drinking initiation age of an individual. An individual from a family where other
members consumes liquor was found to start their drinking in an early age (Mean Age = 19, Std
Dev = 5.31) (Table 8) as compared to individuals (Mean Age = 21.2, Std Dev = 5.03) from a
family whether other members of the family are not consuming liquor.
From this it can be confirmed that, other members of the family may be providing
avenues for non drinkers to start the consumption or they may be influencing them to start
consuming alcoholic drinks.
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
Age when you had first

drink
Other members
consumes Liquor
28
19.0000
5.31246
1.00396
Other members Does

not Consume Liquor
459
21.2397
5.03820
.23516
Source: Survey Data

In order to validate the significance of the above observations, an Independent sample t
test was performed and the results are shown in Table 9. The test was found to be significant and
it can be concluded that there are more chances that, if other members of a family are alcoholic,
it can attract non alcoholics to become alcoholic.
45
Consumption Status
TABLE 8 LIQUOR INITIATION AGE INFLUENCE OF OTHER FAMILY

MEMBERS

Age when you had first drink
TABLE 9 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS

INFLUENCE ON DRINKING INITIATION AGE
Levene's
Test for
Equality of
Variances
Equal variances
assumed
Equal variances not
assumed
95%
Confidence
Interval of
Sig.
Mean
Std. Error Lowthe
(2- Differenc Difference Difference
F
Sig.
t
df
er Upper
tailed)
e
.317 .574 -2.27 485 .023
-2.23
.98
-4.17 -.30
-2.17 30.0 .038

3
-2.23
1.03
-4.34 -.13
Source: Survey Data

Alcoholics may have young, teenage, or grown-up children; they have wives or husbands;
they have brothers or sisters; they have parents or other relatives. Each member of the family
may be affected by alcohol differently. Today, experts who study alcoholic families know that
family and marital problems often start because of alcoholism, but they also learned that spouses
and children may contribute to the drinkers habit and make it worse. This paper proves that, if
alcoholic traces are reported in a family, all chances are open that it may influence non drinkers
to get converted to drinker and this will get worsened if the female members also start
consuming liquor.
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Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.
[2]
Ranganathan, S. (1994). The most sensible thing is not to drink. World Health Forum, 15,
226-227.
[3]
Wig, N. N. (1994). Live sensibly, the rest will follow. World Health Forum. 15, 229-231.
[4]
Broman, C., The Impact of Family Drinking and Drug Use on College Student Substance
Use. The American Sociological Association, Atlanta. USA.
[5]
Parsons, T. (2003) Alcoholism and Its Effect on the Family. AllPsych Journal.
[6]
Report by WHO (2003). Get high on life without alcohol, South-East Asia Regional
Office region.
46
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REFERENCE

[7]
Ramanathan, H. N., Ganesan, S. (2010). Alcohol: A Social Evil and a Source of Revenue.
Erudition, 4, 52-57.
47
[8] Ramanathan, H. N., & Raj, V. P. J., (2007). Prohibition! A Constitutional Promise and the
Reality - A study on Indian Made Foreign Liquor Markets in Kerala. International
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EXCEL International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies

Vol.2 Issue 3, March 2012, ISSN 2249 8834