Arrack Drinking Patterns among Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon Communities in the Rasulpur Union of Bangladesh: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Arrack is produced from palm and date juice which is commonly consumed by the lower class of all religious communities in rural Bangladesh. Previous studies could not cross-culturally investigate arrack drinking patterns. The present study examined and compared arrack drinking patterns among the Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon communities' drinkers in the Rasulpur union of Bangladesh. A total of 391 arrack drinkers (Muslim n = 109, Hindu n = 103, Santal n = 89, Oraon n = 90) selected by cluster random sampling were intensively interviewed by Arrack Drinking Patterns Questionnaire (ADPQ) with open-ended questions. The results of Pearson's Chi-Squire test revealed that arrack drinking patterns significantly differed among the communities' drinkers. The results of Spearman's Bivariate Correlation Coefficients (rs) also indicated that the patterns of arrack drinking of the communities' drinkers were significantly inter-correlated with each other.