Concepts of alcoholism among whites, blacks and Hispanics in the United States.

This article describes agreement with tenets associated with the disease concept of alcoholism among whites, blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. population. Data were obtained from a multistage probability sample of the household population of white, black and Hispanic adults aged 18 years and over residing in the 48 contiguous states. The response rate was 73% for whites, 76% for blacks and 72% for Hispanics. Results show a widespread support for the notion that alcoholism is a disease, independent of ethnicity. However, 40% of the whites, 62% of the blacks and 60% of the Hispanics who agree that alcoholism is an illness also agree that the alcoholic is a morally weak individual.