Presents analysis of adult children of alcoholics, their experience and adjustment in relation to the severity and type of alcoholism, age considerations and perceptions as a child, and existence and nature of significant others. Discusses alcoholics' and others' family issues, focusing on roles taken, and personality characteristics. Emphasizes…

Provides a rationale for services to children of alcoholics and describes school-based interventions to help these children. Asserts that schools are the logical setting for providing knowledge, skills, and support to help children of alcoholics understand the dysfunctional effects of familial alcoholism. Offers suggestions for school counselors…

Considers the usefulness of elementary school support groups for children of alcoholics. Discusses identification of young children of alcoholics and offers suggestions for establishing support groups. Examines techniques for exploring feelings, building self-esteem, developing coping skills, managing stress, rehearsing decision making, and…

Addresses the issue of alcoholism in the family, looking at the child in the alcoholic family, the influence of the alcoholic parent, and the effects of chemical dependency on the family. Provides strategies for interventions with children of alcoholics that elementary school counselors can use to help the children adjust in the school…

A junior high school teacher shares the story of a childhood dominated by poverty, family alcoholism, sexual and physical victimization, and haphazard school attendance. Surviving these traumatic experiences (and a teen pregnancy) was not easy. This teacher's background enables her to unearth covering-up strategies used by children trying to…

To defend against the instability and dishonesty of his family life, the child of an alcoholic parent may adopt the role of the hero--a highly conforming, highly achieving "good child" who seeks to redeem his family and himself through his accomplishments. Children of alcoholics adhere to their childhood roles as adults and may even…

Sponsored by the Advisory Council of the University of Minnesota, Duluth, the proceedings include the keynote address on the effects of day care on young children and associated guidelines for practice. Four sectional presentations provide discussions of discipline-based art education for early childhood, all-day programs for creative learning in…

Although clinicians have recently come to view children of alcoholics as primary patients who deserve treatment in their own right, such youngsters have little access to appropriate services. Experts estimate that less than five percent of children of alcoholic parents receive the help they need. Recent research indicates that the younger the…

Children of alcoholic parents often defend against family instability by adopting roles (hero, scapegoat, lost child, mascot) which bring a semblance of stability to the family. While one role may seem to dominate the character of an individual child, all four roles may be seen in the same child; at times conditions may cause an exchange of roles.…

Urges teachers to educate themselves and others about alcoholism and its effects on the family; create a safe non-threatening school environment in which children of alcoholics can begin to understand their lives; and initate a support group for children of alcoholics. (DMM)

Alcoholism, and particularly alcoholism in the family, is an unsolved medical and social problem. Addictive drinking results in several social and psychological problems, most of which are caused by a change in brain function. Excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages operates as a stressor and produces alkaloids at the base of the brain that are…

Analysis of Al-Anon and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) organizational literature shows women's articulation of and responses to the problems of codependence from the 1950s to the 1980s. Progressive appropriation of feminist ideals, a critique of the family, and a disease-based model of family dysfunction characterize understanding of…

Discusses drug and alcohol abuse by young people and outlines federal and state laws that deal with the problem. Describes the more popular drugs and their effects and lists the warning signs of abuse. Provides information about organizations that help abusers and their families. (GEA)

On the Northern Cheyenne Reservation--where the alcoholism rate for Cheyenne persons 14 years and older is approximately 80%--there are numerous resources available to the recovering alcoholic, but children in alcoholic families are sometimes forgotten. There is a need for preventive programs to insure that today's children do not become the next…