Historical Perspectives on Alcoholism Treatment for Women in the United States, 1870–1990

This article discusses different types of treatment modalities for alcoholic women over more than a century of American history, outlining several key themes. First, the notion that there may be fewer alcoholic women than men, but they are somehow “sicker” or more deviant than their male counterparts, has been remarkably persistent. Second, beliefs about maternity and sexuality have long shaped our understanding of alcoholism in women. Third, defining a clinical entity called alcoholism has been particularly difficult in the case of women, for whom any drinking may be viewed as a troublesome behavior. Finally, fitting women into research and treatment models designed for men has been immensely complicated, yet emphasizing gender difference has, in the past, sometimes excluded alcoholic women even more from the care they needed and added to the stigma they faced.