lcoholism there is an added problem in that most of the research that informs a disease perspective has been conducted by men and based on the study of men from specific class and ethnic backgrounds" (Lundy, 1987). The challenge to this restrictive framework comes from those who are concerned with understanding alcohol abuse within a different socio-economic context.
             As a future social worker I team with those who argue that the study and helping of women who have alcohol problems can be accomplished most effectively with a conscious awareness of their social world. We know little about drinking among women who are poor, non-white, and agrarian. We know even less about alcohol use among elderly, lesbian or disabled women. My conviction is that the social analysis of alcohol and drug use in women's lives has not yet adequately considered the confluence of gender, race, and class, as well as other significant factors. For this reason a feminist analysis of women's position in society and how it relates to their depende
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