A Retrospective Study of Similarities and Differences between Men and Women Employees in a Job-Based Alcoholism Program from 1965–1977

Abstract

The literature was reviewed to identify factors on which men and women have been found to differ that could affect their experiences and success in job-based alcoholism programs. Factors found fell into three categories: personal characteristics, patterns of interpersonal interaction, and situational factors. Records of a large corporate alcoholism program provided data on interactions, situations, and outcomes for all employees who had been in the program over a 13-year period. The results of bivariate analyses of data on a sample of 377 cases showed that men and women who had been in this program differed in interaction patterns and situational variables. Women employees evoked more interactions about their drinking problems than men, and tended to have more solitary home situations and different work statuses. However, overall program outcomes did not differ significantly between men and women on such criteria as job performance, relapses, or attendance. Multivariate analyses of the correlates of program outcomes revealed that, although men and women differed on some details of how interventions and treatment were handled, successful cases of both sexes had been in the program longer, had experienced less labelling in terms of frequency of treatment and interventions, and had greater investments in their jobs in terms of job status or seniority.