The first three volumes of this series have dealt with materials which
generally justify the title, The Biology of Alcoholism. This is only
remotely true of the present volume, Social Aspects of Alcoholism, or of
the final volume to come, Treatment and Rehabilitation. Except for small
portions of the treatment section which involve pharmacotherapy, much of
these last two volumes deals with the psychological aspects of
alcoholism and still more with the social. It is interesting to review
the evolution of this new pattern over the past seven years, a pattern
which, had it existed initially, would have resulted, if not in a dif-
ferent format, at least in a different title. Our initial selection of
areas to be covered was influenced by our desire to present as "hard"
data as possible, in an attempt to lend a greater aura of scientific
rigor to a field which was generally considered as "soft. " When we
completed our review of this material in volumes 1-3, we recognized that
what we might have gained in rigor, we had more than lost in
completeness. These volumes presented a picture of a biological disease
syndrome for which the remedies and preventive measures were presumably
also biological. And yet, most workers in the field readily accept the
significant contributions of psychological and social factors to the
pathogenesis and treatment of alcoholism.
