A cultural approach to conceptualizing alcohol and the workplace

Alcohol Health & Research World,  Spring, 1992  by Genevieve M. Ames,  Craig Janes

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Ethnographic studies have also provided evidence that suggests a relationship between stress and alienation on one hand, and high-risk drinking on the other. In the above-mentioned railroad study, ongoing facts of worklife such as excessive downtime, boredom between jobs, and poor supervision were noted (Mannello et al. 1979). Among the tunnel construction workers, stress was produced by the highly dangerous environment (explosives and underground work), and by never seeing the light of day during shifts (Trice and Sonnenstuhl 1987). In our own study of the recently laid-off assembly workers, both the heavy and the moderate drinkers talked freely about stress problems resulting from excessive time pressures (not enough time for tasks, or else too much time, resulting in periods with nothing to do). These workers also discussed the lack of control over the pace and nature of their work, lack of decision-making power, lack of competent supervision, the repetitive and boring nature of tasks, frequent layoffs and fear of layoffs, and financial insecurity. Workers cited drinking as a response to each of these situations. For example, during lag times between tasks, groups of line personnel developed a pattern of moving ahead on the assembly line so they could have "rest" periods, which were also drinking breaks (Ames and Janes 1987).

The relationship between drinking and this dimension of work culture is insufficiently studied and lacks standardized measurements designed specifically for the workplace. For example, the concept of stress has not been defined consistently in all relevant studies. Nonetheless, the idea that the quality and organization of work can create risk factors for problem drinking has important potential for the prevention of alcohol problems.

Factors External to the Workplace

Drinking at work cannot be related solely to the work environment, although that environment may influence such behavior profoundly. For this reason, the third dimension of work culture considers drinking patterns in relation to the interaction between work and nonwork life, and emphasizes the interaction of factors external to the workplace with the demands of work itself. This aspect of alcohol and the work environment is also underdeveloped in the research literature. However, based on our own findings regarding community and family influences on drinking levels, and studies of cultural influences on drinking patterns in general (Bennett and Ames 1985), we include the interaction of outside influences on workplace drinking practices.

A worker's socialization experiences from family and community interact with socialization experiences at work. Thus, behavioral standards acquired outside the workplace affect behavior--including drinking behavior--inside the workplace. Workers who come from cultural backgrounds where alcohol is integrated into many spheres of family and community life may thus extend drinking into the workplace, perhaps by selecting work and job situations where such drinking practices are permitted. Ablon's (1980) account of the interaction between leisure/community life and drinking levels of Irish-Catholic workers in city service occupations (police and firefighters) richly illustrates the risks presented by cultural factors external to the workplace.