Male and Female Applicants for Alcoholism Treatment: A Study of Differential Staff Attitudes

Seventy-one staff members in four alcoholism treatment facilities were administered questionnaires regarding the appropriateness for treatment of two prospective patients described by case summaries, a thirty-eight year old teacher and a fifty-nine year old indigent homeless person. To assess whether female applicants would be less desirably received than males, for half of the respondents the teacher summary was male and the indigent female, while for the other half, the sex assignments were reversed. Female teachers were considered less appropriate for individual therapy/counseling, evening outpatient clinics were considered less appropriate for female teachers, while inpatient rehabilitation units and daytime outpatient clinics were deemed less appropriate for the female indigents.

Contrary to formulated hypotheses, female indigents were considered more appropriate for admission than male indigents and were preferred for the modalities of group therapy, individual therapy, and marital and family therapy. Furthermore, female staff were less likely than male staff to consider female teachers appropriate for treatment and female staff were more likely to refer male teachers for vocational counseling. Implications of the study's findings are discussed.