Alcohol and Family Dynamics; Understanding its Ripple Effect

Despite its unpopularity, alcohol itself is not a bad thing. In between religious and moral views, it is important to note that the most primitive human use of alcohol, was for medicinal purposes. Nonetheless, the misuse and overuse of this substance have been known to confer malicious consequences on its users. But is it only the users that suffer? Is it statutory for a casual sequence to precede every human activity, and is there always a larger consequence to our actions? We should probably pick a cue from science, where Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion proposes a reaction to every action. It is therefore easy to agree that there certainly is always a ripple effect to everything. In 2021, a United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report on child mental health addresses alcohol as a negative risk factor. This is in consonance with popular opinion, that implicates alcoholism as the leading cause of child abuse, domestic violence, and child neglect among parents. These two assertions are aimed at highlighting the effect of alcohol and its misuse on both parents and children, who together make up a family. As we discuss the domino effect of alcohol in family dynamics, it is important to proffer an exposé on its impression on the larger society. 

Family dynamics which is simply the pattern of interactions among family members, differ based on location, culture, religion and even societal expectations. However, it does not waver the reality that the family is an institution of learning.  A nursery from which a new society is born. In the regular scheme of things, the children would tend to take after their parents or guardian either genetically or through learned behavior, as the case may be. This learning process is natural just as it is subconscious. Therefore, there is a possibility that a child would grow to display behavior that were synonymous with its early years. One of which could be alcoholism. A child who grows up to see the indiscriminate use of such substances as a norm, may risk becoming an adult who would mirror such views.  Furthermore, intoxicated parents or guardians are known to be potential child abusers of all forms. On the flip side, they are cases where the alcoholics are the children. Our today society has put before us a reality where keeping the wrong company in school, might just be enough to sow the wrong seeds in a child. Causing the parents emotional, mental and psychological stress, that could consequently sabotage relationship between family members. In another very common and pathetic scenario, many intoxicated fathers have been known to abuse their wives. More often than we may choose to admit, one of the chief victims of such circumstances are the children who are unfortunate to have been brought up in such a home. In all of these scenarios, we can see how alcohol skews proper family dynamics. It becomes difficult for members of the family to play their role and interact in the face of alcoholism. Moving forward, we can now elucidate on its ripple effects. 

“The family is the basis of society. As the family is, so is the society”. These words of Ashely Montagu, a British American anthropologist, clearly explains how the ripple effect of faulty family dynamics rub off on the society. To put his words in clearer terms, we are all products of families, and the society is the consumer of these ‘products’. There is currently a vicious cycle of people who come from dysfunctional families, and translate this flaw to their places of work, worship, and everywhere else they find themselves. We must understand that the more deteriorated our family dynamics become, the less possible it is for us to produce stable individuals in the society. A child brought up in a family faulted by the woes of alcohol abuse, could become a leader somewhere in the future. Can we always be certain that such irresponsibility would not somehow rub off on him? A girl abused by her inebriated uncle throughout her childhood might cultivate a natural hate for men because of her ugly past. This is the ripple effect we talk about. The examples are endless, even if we continue to ignore that they exist. A lot of the abnormal behaviors people exhibit around us are as a result of families whose foundations had been sunk deep in liquor.  The casual nexus between alcohol, family dynamics and a bastardized society, stem from the realization that we would continue to produce victims, who may turn out to become perpetrators of the evil they experienced.    

Family dynamics would always differ. But as the basic unit of every society, the family has a duty. To ensure that its members understand their roles and the need for proper interaction with one another. However, the misuse and overuse of alcohol in a family would always negate a stable inter-personal relationship among members. Hence the need for avenues such as this one, to further educate people on the dangers of alcohol on family dynamics, and its consequent backlash on the society.