Importance of models for recovery from alcoholism: another view.

Models of alcoholism abound providing unicausal explanations of this complex problem and leading to narrow perspectives on treatment of alcoholics. All models contain elements of truth and there is a trend toward considering the role of various factors in alcoholism. Some effort has been made to incorporate more than one model into a treatment approach. This paper is another effort at synthesis and integration of various models into a comprehensive treatment plan. It recommends the addition of the sociological and familial interaction models to medical, psychogenic and moral ones, and suggests that focus of treatment should be shifted from an individual alcoholic to the alcoholic-in-his-social-situation.