Abstract
M.A.
The present investigation aims to provide a profile of the social factors, which may
have an influence on the relapse of alcoholics. The following questions are to be
answered in the study:
(a) Which social risk factors play a role in the relapse of alcoholics?
(b) Are these factors related to the alcoholic’s immediate environment or wider
societal factors?
(c) What role does the alcoholic’s anonymous service or lack thereof play?
The five relapsed alcoholic patients who went for outpatient for several times, at
SANCA in Johannesburg and the five family members comprise the research sample.
To each of these clients the researcher administered an interview schedule in order to
obtain information pertaining to the relapse. The majority of clients are unemployed
because they were retrenched from their work due to their relapse rates.
Most clients have one or more family members who are alcoholic. Most clients are
apparently socially isolated from their families. Most clients fail to complete the
defined treatment programmes at SANCA in Johannesburg due to the distance they
have to travel from Alexandra to Johannesburg. From the findings pertaining to the
staff in the investigation it is revealed that Social Workers are the professionals most
involved in rendering out-patient treatment to alcoholics.
In conclusion it is proposed that administrators of out-patient alcoholism clinics
expend more energy in structuring comprehensive programmes of intervention for
clients. It is also recommended that there be more Social Workers in Alexandra
dealing with the problems of alcoholics. There must be an Alcoholics Anonymous
and a treatment centre in Alexandra so that the relapse rate of alcoholics must go
down.
Dr. W. Roestenburg