Spicer P
Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, USA.
Med Anthropol Q. 1997 Sep;11(3):306-23. doi: 10.1525/maq.1997.11.3.306.
This article explores the complex and contradictory experiences of urban American Indian drinkers. While previous anthropological accounts have emphasized the functions served by American Indian drinking, the testimony of drinkers also documents their awareness of the destructive effects of heavy drinking, particularly the way in which it often interferes with their ability to meet social obligations. Nevertheless, people often continue to use alcohol, and this means that many are profoundly ambivalent about their drinking; they see it simultaneously as something that is embedded in certain important relationships, but also something that is destructive of much that they value. Drawing on interviews with 35 self-defined problem drinkers, this article details the ambiguous nature of the American Indian experience with alcohol, highlighting the need for a clinically sophisticated anthropology of alcohol.
本文探讨了美国城市印第安饮酒者复杂且矛盾的经历。虽然先前的人类学描述强调了印第安人饮酒所发挥的功能，但饮酒者的证词也记录了他们对酗酒破坏性影响的认识，尤其是酗酒常常干扰他们履行社会义务能力的方式。然而，人们往往继续饮酒，这意味着许多人对自己的饮酒行为深感矛盾；他们同时将饮酒视为某些重要关系中固有的一部分，但也视为破坏他们许多珍视之物的东西。基于对35名自认为有饮酒问题者的访谈，本文详细阐述了美国印第安人与酒精相关经历的模糊性质，强调了建立一门临床层面精细的酒精人类学的必要性。
