This archival and qualitative research adds insight into the psychosocial consequences females of sexual victimization incur. Sexual abuse is a pervasive, complex societal problem experienced by 30%-46% of American females. The psychosocial consequences are numerous, often severe, and can result in death. They include: anxiety, BPD, denial, dependence, despair, eating disorders, destructive relationships, fear, guilt, hallucinations, helplessness, hopelessness, hysteria, insecurity, isolation, MPD, nightmares, numbness, passivity, pessimism, phobias, PTSD, rage, self-loathing, sexual dysfunctions, shame, shock, sleeping disorders, stigmatization, stress-related disorders, substance abuse, and suicide. The severity of psychosocial consequences to female victims varies greatly depending upon the degree, duration, and emotion surrounding the abuse, the victim's health, and the health of the victim's social network. In conclusion, strategies suggested in the literature to combat female sexual victimization are outlined.

The treatment of alcoholism has had a unique historical development in the United States. This study provides a chronology of how the problem of alcoholism was defined and handled during various time periods in United States history. The process that evolved resulted in an abstinence based, comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of alcoholism as a primary disease based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. This treatment modality, that developed outside of established medicine, is currently used by the majority of treatment providers. Seven individuals who have been actively involved in alcoholism treatment were interviewed. In addition to archival research, biographies and autobiographies were examined to gain a broad perspective. Because alcoholism is both a collective and an individual problem an effort was made to include a microsociological frame of reference within a broad sociological view. Alcoholism, or inebriety, was first perceived as a legal and moral problem. By the end of the 19th century, inebriety was recognized as an illness differing from mental illness, and separate asylums were established for its treatment. Alcoholism is currently accepted and treated as a primary disease by the majority of social institutions, but the legal and moral implications remain. National Prohibition in the …