Posted on 09/25/2006 11:24:53 AM PDT by misterrob
WASHINGTON - Alcoholics Anonymous, the worldwide group that helps addicts stop drinking, may also help drive down the number of murders in a community, Canadian researchers reported Sunday.
As membership in the group in Ontario, Canada, increased between 1968 and 1991, murders there dropped off, said Robert Mann from the University of Toronto and Mark Asbridge from Dalhousie University.
Research has shown there is a significant relationship between drinking and homicide in Europe, the United States and Canada, they wrote in their report, published in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
SNIP
But they found an increase of one AA member per 100,000 people was followed by a drop of 0.3 to 0.5 percent in Ontarios homicide rate.
The relationship was only apparent when it came to men. They did not find a relationship in the case of women.
Males drink more often, more heavily and consume more beer and spirits than females, Asbridge said in a statement.
Moreover, the nature of the link between alcohol consumption and violence is more readily a male experience, for example, drinking heavily in bar settings leads to aggression and violence.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Most of them that would not be the 'murdering type' through a black out or anger, certainly become potential murders when they get behind the wheel of a car drunk (which is the usual state, unless they are the binge drinker type), or even when they are severely hung over (where their reaction times and mental focus can be nearly just as bad.)
Amen, brother.
Even after almost 19 years I still have to check the beast inside on occasion....
Ha, my sponsor tried to make me be a Dem, telling me I had to do everything the exact opposite from the way I always had ... you know, because of my "best thinking."
I tried really, really hard for 3 weeks ... "I would do anythin' for love ... but I won't do that!" It didn't take. Thankfully, it was not during an election period.
You went home at 2 with a 10, and woke up at 10 with a 2?..........
There is a God :-).
the point is that there is a big difference between a drunk and a member of AA - who may not have touched alcohol for decades. to lump them all into a rather unflatterign category is more of a deterrent to becommign sober in teh first place.
if you're going to be treated as a murderer....
Ted Kennedy.......
Amazing how when people acknowlege that there is a "higher power", a higher power elevates them........
Thanks for sharing this. I know there are some amazing AAs today that hit the same wall years into not drinking and it was a real knock on the head. Thank God the program is there to come to or back too. What a gift. That 'higher power' is just a waitin' for us isn't he? :-).
Hey wait a minute. Ted never killed . . . . . nevermind.
I believe that, during this period, church attendence in the area decreased. Hmm . . . Those religious types can be dangerous!
Oh, wait a minute. The use of anti-cancer drugs and steel-belted radial tires increased. Ouch!
You must not pay much attention to the news.
Most people are smart enough to recognize the difference. Only a small minority can't use logic to discern the real message.
Seems it would be difficult to develop any sound research along these lines, since AA doesn't track, keep, or deliver any statistics whatsoever to anyone.
The best that could be said is that there are more people recovering in AA now than there were in 1968.
Whoops, the story goes on to say:
"Alcoholics Anonymous gave estimated membership data from surveys and mailing lists."
I still maintain that is "best guess" and "maybe" data that AA Central Services would provide to anyone, it may even be in one of the brochures. But to use it as the basis for a statistically significant academic study seems a little over the top.
Males drink more often, more heavily and consume more beer and spirits than females, Asbridge said in a statement.
Not a biggee, but I can't go along with the above statement. I wasn't a beer drinker but I could swill a quart of gin a day without a backward glance. Okay, so I ended up having hallucinations and the beginnings of DT's but you've got to admit, when alcohol forced me to "turn pro" I didn't fiddle around.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.