| Description |
xiv, 223 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-217) and index. |
| Form |
Also issued online. |
| Summary |
In this important new study of women with alcoholic husbands, sociologist Ramona Asher vividly describes the process of coming to terms with a profound crisis in one's private life. Her interviews with more than fifty women, all participants in family treatment programs, enabled Asher to assemble a composite picture of the experiences shared by wives of alcoholics. How they came to see the crisis in their lives, and how they began to recognize their own very mixed emotions--that is the dramatic story Asher presents. The testimony given by these women illustrates the steps each must take to regain hold of her life. The first step, as Asher shows, is confronting "definitional ambivalence"-- figuring out what is happening and deciding what to do about it. Asher argues that the current vogue of using the label "dependent" may actually hinder rather than facilitate emotional health. Because the concept of codependency reinforces the idea that women are compulsively vulnerable to men in need of nurturing, Asher argues that it prompts women to feel incapable of becoming assertive, independent individuals. Led to think of themselves as addicted to their husbands' addiction, the wives of alcoholics may be persuaded that their own problems can't be overcome. Asher shows that they can take command of their lives. Asher's analysis breaks through popular notions about wives of alcoholics and presents a whole new understanding of denial, control, and other so-called symptoms of codependency. Her book raises important questions about how society views women who are married to alcoholics. |
| Contents |
Introduction: Outlining the Moral Career -- Pt. 1. The Early Problem Phase. 1. Recognizing the Ambivalence -- Pt. 2. The Problem Amplification Phase. 2. Sorting the Ambivalence: Acknowledging. 3. Sorting the Ambivalence: Valuating. 4. Sorting the Ambivalence: Personalizing Experiences and Sentiments. 5. Sorting the Ambivalence: Personalizing Stances. 6. Notes on Maintaining the Ambivalence -- Pt. 3. The Proximal Treatment Phase. 7. Limiting the Ambivalence and Entering Treatment. 8. Depersonalizing the Ambivalence -- Pt. 4. The Post-Treatment Phase. 9. Transforming the Ambivalence -- Conclusion: Sociological Insights, Implications, and Speculation -- Appendix: Research Design and Methods. |
| Subject |
Alcoholics' spouses -- Psychology.
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Codependency.
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Alcoholism -- psychology.
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Codependency, Psychological
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Spouses.
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| Other Form: |
Online version: Asher, Ramona Marie. Women with alcoholic husbands. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1992 (OCoLC)551694301 |
| ISBN |
0807820288 cloth alkaline paper |
|
9780807820285 cloth alkaline paper |
|
0807843733 paperback alkaline paper |
|
9780807843734 paperback alkaline paper |
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