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Abstract
This research examined the beliefs of Native Americans about the causes of alcohol abuse. Surveys and interviews were conducted with 256 Native American respondents in four geographical regions. Respondents offered open-ended explanations that were categorized and compared against dominant theories about the issue. These categorized explanations were tested against the independent variables of residency status (reservation/non-reservation), gender, region, tribal affiliation, and socioeconomic status to determine the effect of these factors on explanations given. Four dominant theories (differential association, biological difference, cultural marginality, blocked opportunity) were compared to the respondents' lay explanations.
Although a "blocked economic opportunity" explanation was the clear choice of respondents, significant effects were seen for gender and socioeconomic status. Those of higher socioeconomic status gave greater credence to explanations based on personal factors and showed less favor for explanations based on structural obstacles. To a lesser extent, other effects due to residency status and region were also evident. Some portion of these effects are likely due to intervening influences of gender, tribal affiliation, and socioeconomic status.
Blocked opportunity was offered most frequently as an open-ended explanation and was selected most frequently as the best dominant theory. The other dominant theories in the literature did not fare well when compared to the non-prompted explanations. Collectively, the three other dominant theories were offered as the best open-ended explanation by only slightly over 15 percent of the respondents.
Respondents' explanations revealed a recognition that causes for alcohol abuse are multi-faceted and due to many factors. There is some homogeneity in explanations offered by those of different statuses (residency, gender, etc.) but differences based on these and other factors still exist and are worthy of future research.
