Alcohol and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. II. Psychodynamic and Cultural Factors in Drinking

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Abstract
A survey of the drinking practices of 208 respondents representing the adult population of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the summer of 1961 revealed that a significantly higher proportion drink than in a white populatioa It was noted, in additon, that symptoms of alcoholism and problem drinking were significantly more numerous than in a white population. The problem in the study was also concerned with the motivation for drinking or abstaining, and factors related to the social control of drinking. This report deals primarily with these aspects of the problem. It has been suggested that cultural incidences of alcoholism are determined by the degree of intrapsychic tension brought about by the culture, the availability of substitute means of relieving such tensions, and attitudes toward drinking which either suggest or discourage this as a means of relieving tension. The data concerning the Standing Rock Sioux substantiates this theory. High degrees of intrapsychic tension are created through the basic insecurities of life on the reservation, the breaking up of the Sioux culture, and repressed aggression and hostility. Secondly, few substitute means of relieving this tension appear available in Sioux Culture. In addition, cultural attitudes among the Sioux toward the use of alcohol are utilitarian in nature. The data suggest also that the permissive character of the culture contributes in a significant way to the high incidence of alcoholism since social sanctions exercised against the heavy drinker or alcoholic are virtually non-existent.

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