Ideological Variations in the Structure of Deviant Types: A Multivariate Comparison of Alcoholism and Heroin Addiction

The alcoholic and the heroin addict are compared using survey measures of Freidson's three-dimensional typology of deviance and indicators of major ideological images of deviance. Ratings by respondents in independent subsamples reveal substantial similarity in the social typing of these two forms of deviance. Respondents holding medical images of deviance are less likely than those holding moralistic images to impute personal responsibility, stigma, and noncurability to the alcoholic and addict. However, evidence from a multivariate analysis of the full Freidson typology suggests that the increasing influence of the medical ideology on alcoholism may have the undesirable consequence of locking the alcoholic into a non-responsible, but stigmatized deviant type.