title: Alcohol use in the perspective of cultural ecology.
abstract: Examination of the use of alcohol in traditional agrarian society reveals that drinking and the drinking context is for the most part integrative, conflict-reducing, and reinforcing of corporate identity. With acculturation and modernization, and the introduction of full-scale cash-based economies, alcohol use is more frequently a social and pathological and serves individual as opposed to jointly shared objectives. Analysis of these issues is accomplished through a review of the cultural ecological perspectives on drinking and culture in a variety of societies around the world.
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D012945:Social Values; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors