A History of Job-Based Alcoholism Programs: 1972–1980

Abstract

We describe changes in the design of job-based alcoholism programs between 1972 and 1980, and discuss the influences of professional organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the National Council on Alcoholism, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Association of Labor-Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism on program models. Interorganizational relations and program evolution are analyzed using a social movements perspective. Job-based programs enjoyed rapid growth, acceptance and institutionalization in the seventies. However, changes in organizational goals, practitioner orientations, and workplace strategies indicate that the modern antialcoholism movement's goals were displaced by those promoting job-based programs during this period.