Work

Understanding Alcohol Use Among U.S. Cambodians: How Useful is the Concept of Cultural Norms?

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Observed differences in substance use are frequently attributed to cultural norms, which in turn are often interpreted as fixed properties of ethnically defined groups. During a community-based participatory research study (2009-2011), U.S. Cambodian women identified community-specific drinking behaviors and beliefs. To test how widely other U.S. Cambodians shared their views, we formulated them into a series of normative statements and surveyed local community members (N = 172). We identified few consensualized norms, which suggests that (A) norms may not be reducible to normative statements; and/or (B) norms may not be shared by all group members; and (C) if neither A nor B holds, then the attribution of observed drinking patterns to cultural norms lacks internal validity. Study's limitations were noted.

Source: Substance Use & Misuse

DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2013.855233

Authors: Anna Pagano, Juliet P. Lee, Talaya Sin

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, Pacific Institute For Research and Evaluation

Language: English

Topic: Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities