Assignment Overview
Type: Individual ProjectUnit: Introduction to Alcohol Abuse
4 Pages
Assignment Objectives
Define the terms associated with alcohol use, abuse and addiction.Discuss the historical perspectives of alcohol use and abuse.Identify cultural, age and gender differences of alcohol use as well as the continuum of use and abuse, the warning signs and symptoms of an alcohol problem, and the current DSM categories or other diagnostic standards associated with alcohol use.
Assignment Description
Case Study
As a new probation officer, you are meeting with a new client, Mr. Anthony Potts, who has been convicted of an alcohol-related driving offense and was sentenced to 3 years of probation. Mr. Potts has been married to Anna Potts for 18 years, and they have two children: Sarah, age 13, and Cindy, age 11. Mr. Potts owns a chain of retail stores, works long hours during the week and on the weekends, and has not been an involved father because he spends most of his time working. His pattern has been to go out to various restaurants and bars with his partners after the stores close at 9:30 p.m. and drink alcohol until closing. He has then typically driven home under the influence of alcohol. You meet with Mrs. Potts, who is very guarded in her discussions with you about her husband's drinking history. What you can learn from Mrs. Potts includes police involvement a few times during the marriage due to the drinking, long nights where Mr. Potts kept the family awake in his drunken rages, and very poor communication between Mrs. Potts and Mr. Potts. You have learned that Mr. Potts does not drink alcohol in the mornings. He does not binge drink, and he does not drink on Tuesdays. He does, however, drink the other 6 days of the week. Mrs. Potts explains his pattern of drinking Monday through Friday with his partners, but he does not drink at home on those days. She also informs you that he does drink on Saturdays at home, often starting in the afternoon and passing out by dinnertime. He has a history of being loud, frightening, and angry when under the influence of alcohol. You also learn that Mr. Potts's father was a winemaker from Italy.
This is your first alcohol-related case, so you discuss this with your supervisor at your weekly supervision session and explain that the court has asked for a report from your office to determine whether treatment should be a condition of Mr. Potts's probation.
Your supervisor, Probation Officer Rexford, asks you to submit a draft report, which will include professional sources to support your contentions, outlining the following:
- Explain the elements of alcohol abuse in Mr. Potts's case.
- Give examples of and explain how genetics and heredity play a role in the transmission of alcoholism from one generation to another in Mr. Potts's case.
- Explain where and why Mr. Potts falls on the continuum-of-use spectrum, as described in your readings for this unit.
- Relate how the history of alcohol use may have impacted Mr. Potts's current condition.
- Provide up to 3 scholarly sources, which may include the textbook and other course materials, and cite them using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.
