Navaho Drinking: Some Tentative Hypotheses

A three year treatment program for Navaho problem drinkers has produced evidence that - in the area of the relationship between treatment effectiveness and patient characteristics - the more acculturated Navahos respond less well to treatment. Such patients tend to have greater facility with English, higher than sixth grade exposure to contemporary education, and experience in military service. Furthermore, these patients are seldom satisfied with the seasonal laboring jobs that characteristically supplement traditional income: they seek instead, long term employment in middleclass technical or white collar jobs. Often they appear to feel pushed by the expectations of both whites and Navahos to attain higher status because of their superior education. In contrast, patients who respond well to treatment tend to be less educated and less involved in contemporary society; and they are less often rated as anxious in initial psychological examinations.