Social welfare services and problem drinking : a comparative study of the use of social welfare services by problem drinking families and non-problem drinking families known to the main family agencies in the City of Winnipeg in September, 1962

Abstract

This study took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba between October, 1962 and May, 1963, and was focused on the use of services by families active with one or more of the five main family agencies in this city, for the purpose of determining the differences in the use of services by families where there was a problem drinker as compared with families where there was no problem drinker. A sample of 408 families was chosen from the September, 1962 caseloads of the City of Winnipeg Public Welfare Department, the Province of Manitoba Department of Welfare, the Family Court of the Winnipeg Juvenile Court and Family Court, the Family Bureau of Greater Winnipeg, and the Children's Aid Society of Winnipeg. The data was obtained by the members of the Research Group who completed schedules in direct interviews with the social workers active with the families. Judgment of the presence of problem drinking and marital difficulty was based upon the opinion of the social workers. An analysis of the findings revealed that there were fewer problem drinking families than non-problem drinking families in the sample taken as a whole, and in the sample of each agency taken separately, with the exception of the Children's Aid Society; that in comparison with non-problem drinking families, problem drinking families use less public assistance, have more marital difficulty, and use more children's services and a greater number of family agencies. It may be concluded that there were significant differences in the use of social services by problem drinking families as compared with non-problem drinking families.