Abstract

XAVIER, Marlon. Religiosity and problem drinking: a case study. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2005, vol.25, n.1, pp. 88-99. ISSN 1414-9893.

This study aimed at analysing the relation between the factors of religiosity and problem drinking. For such, a single case study was used, composed by dreams and biographic narratives of the subject, a man in his late fifties. Through this material, we set out to verify how the factors became manifest, both consciously and unconsciously, following C. G. Jung’s theory and methodology of interpretation. Consciously, the subject displayed religiosity through a belief in spiritism and through what Jung calls religio; unconsciously, through a form of religiosity which we called dionysian. The study demonstrates that the different forms of religiosity expressed by the subject showed complex relations with the problems related to drinking - from incitement to drink and worsening of the related problems to possibilities of resolution of the problems. The relations between the subject and the cultural values that encourage alcohol consumption were also object of investigation. As a conclusion, religiosity in general contributed to a lessening of the subject’s perception of the aforementioned values, and to strengthen a more individual comprehension of the problems related to drinking. The study also proposes that more attention should be paid to the religiosity factor in alcohol and problem drinking-related research.

Keywords : Problem drinking; Religiosity; Analytical Psychology; Case study.

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