‘Enabling’ of male problem drinkers in work groups

Theoretical understanding of the effects of groups on the development and the maintenance of adult problem drinking is sparse. Sociological theories predict that adult problem drinkers find support for their behavior among those with similar drinking patterns. By contrast, a widely diffused clinical conceptualization posits that ‘significant others’ who are not problem drinkers facilitate the maintenance of problem drinking. Several previous lines of research lead to the hypothesis that observed delays in identification and referral of problem drinkers in the workplace may be due to supportive relationships between problem drinkers and their co‐workers and supervisors. Data from the 1973–77 Quality of Employment Panel Survey are utilized to provide a longitudinal test of this hypothesis among employed men. Results support the existence of enabling in the workplace. Data comparing ‘enabled’ and ‘non‐enabled’ problem drinking workers fail to support four possible explanations of enabling.