Gender and Alcoholism in the Treatment of Alcoholic Women in Alcoholics Anonymous

• Grant number: 21/13536-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Edemilson Antunes de Campos
• Grantee: Mariana de Melo
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Female alcoholism is considered a public health problem. Recent Brazilian data show that alcoholism among women has shown greater growth in relation to men. In this scenario, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups appear as a therapeutic option widely recognized and used by those who have become dependent on alcohol. However, the groups are still notably composed of men. The objective of this research is to deepen the study of female alcoholism, initiated in the Fapesp project process number 2017/18535-9, now having as a field of investigation the Women's Meetings promoted by Alcoholics Anonymous in the city of São Paulo-Brazil. The Women's Meetings officially take place in three AA groups in the city of São Paulo: Campos Elíseos, Santana and Noel, and are important for the recovery of alcoholic women. Thus, focusing on these meetings, we will seek to better understand the relationship between gender and alcoholism, and how this relationship impacts the way alcoholic women experience alcoholism, seek help and experience treatment in AA. This is a qualitative research with an ethnographic approach, developed through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with women who attend the Women's Meetings in the three AA groups located in the city of São Paulo. Although using the Alcoholics Anonymous therapeutic model as a reference, the answers can contribute to understanding what facilitates or hinders the adherence of alcoholic women to other treatments for alcoholism. In this sense, this research is original in relation to other works carried out on the subject, as it facilitates the listening of alcoholic women in recovery, a group rarely taken for their gender specificities with regard to the problem of alcoholism.