A sociological study on causes and consequences of alcohol use among urban and countryside people

Abstract

This is a covert type study which has used alcoholic and alcohol users from the urban and the countryside societies as the key respondents making descriptive and elaborative lives stories to examine the causes and consequences of alcohol use. I purposively chose them, who are belonged to different ethnicities as the respondents to make descriptive alcohol cases during my field visits to their communities. For this, the prevalent literatures both theoretical and empirical were thoroughly examined to guide the study so that it could be given a different flavor. Case studies backed by observations and in-depth interviews were used to collect the qualitative data as the research methodologies. Such data have been elaborately presented making 28 cases exclusively.

As the study is about to examine the causes and consequences of alcohol use among urban and rural people, the death ritual pae, chhewar, marriage, putpute, ghasu rite, kaita puja, chandi puja, putpurahu etc were found as ritual causes and the social environment, availability, circle, family conflict, break ups, job nature, advertisement, poor self-esteem, poverty, gambling, stratification of castes as matawali, unemployment, leisure time etc were found as social causes to use alcohol. So far the consequences are concerned, damage to the image, disorganization, violence, delinquency, tragedy, adversity, negation etc were social consequences of alcoholism with hypertension, chronic headache, stomachache, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, tremor of hands, TB etc were health consequences so far followed by poverty, economic crisis and backwardness of drinking people as economic consequences of alcoholism.

The study shows that the hot cake issue poverty prevailing among them, who are living at their adult ages and could not get enlisted in the army, is directly connected with alcoholism due to which they are unable to do much for their betterments. Also, it can be expected that poverty will remain for many decades to come because the sole cause the alcoholism has not been endorsed yet. The volatile drinking environment has been number one obstacle to impart a positive change in a rural community. The human capability and potentiality could not have been enhanced and harnessed because of the alcoholism. The large number marginal groups in the state are living below the poverty line who use alcohol excessively. So, the issues concerning with alcoholism should be endorsed to minimize the prevailing poverty everywhere which is like a social virus and spreads fast amidst the poverty.

On the other hand, the equal share and representation too have been contemporary issues for the excluded, deprived and unprivileged groups in Nepal neglecting the merit. The constitutional making process was derailed and withheld due to the equal share issues in the division of federal states which is a vague issue in such countries like Nepal constituting of more than hundred diverse ethnicities and walk of lives. Therefore, the first attempt should be for merit making of those unprivileged and deprived people so that they could harness their capabilities and skills for the nation building process. For these all, they should be detached from alcoholism. Anti-alcohol campaigns should be effectively launched to endorse the underdevelopment and backwardness issues of those Janajatis and Dalits. We have witnessed so many national and international campaigns against women violence, HIV/AIDS etc but the main cause alcoholism remains always overshadowed. So, some interventions and initiative measures are to be launched to mitigate the alcohol problems.