Identity Politics in the Social Sciences

  1. Jessie L Watson profile image63
    Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years ago

    Consider the following statement from a textbook assigned for a course in Psychology of Addiction.

    “It is important for counselors to be culturally sensitive and aware of the predominantly white, middle-strata, male-defined view of addictions upon which most 12-step programs are founded.”

    The first problem with this statement is that it assumes that just because there is a higher preponderance of middle-class white males in these programs (because most people with alcoholism actually happen to be Caucasian males (NIH, 2018)) that the program is fundamentally driven by masculine points of view and that this poses some sort of risk to anyone who is not a white middle-class male. As if being white or male has something to do with how the 12 steps are structured or that being white or male is inherently contemptable. I will concede to the existence of meetings that may be more or less dominated by older white men who are staunch in their views. I’ve seen them myself but it’s certainly not a reflection of the 12-step program in its entirety.
       
    This statement is also reprehensible because it assumes that because a group is comprised of mostly one group identity, that it intentionally excludes or impedes diversity. It’s the same thing as saying that since the majority of nurses in hospitals are women, that the institution of medicine and nursing must be corrupted by the female point of view.
       
    If someone who is non-white and lower class walks into a meeting of mostly white middle class men, the potency of the program remains the same. Most groups are very welcoming and are very diverse once you get to know everyone. Diversity is just as much about diversity of opinion, background and experience as it is about gender, race and socioeconomic class. My AA sponsor is far wealthier and more privileged than I am but has been pivotal in my recovery and continues to use his privilege to benefit everyone in the program and the community. That's what the program does...It teaches precisely the opposite of what the author presumes...

    https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-healt … statistics

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