Religion and Alcohol Use among Second Generation Korean Americans: Commentary on "Assessing the Associations between Religiosity and Alcohol Use Stages in a Representative U.S. Sample" by Lin et al, 2020. (10th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Oh, Hans Y.
• Is Part Of: Substance use & misuse. Volume 55:Number 14(2020)
• Page Start: 2443
• Page End: 2444
• Publication Date: 2020-09-10
• Subjects: Religion -- Korean American -- race -- ethnicity; Narcotic habit -- Periodicals; Alcoholism -- Periodicals; Substance abuse -- Periodicals; Behavior, Addictive -- Periodicals; Sustance-Related Disorders -- Periodicals; 362.2905
• DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2020.1818104
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1082-6084

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: This commentary describes the extent to which church-attending Korean Americans engage in heavy drinking and treatment seeking behaviors. Methods: Using a church-based participatory approach, I conducted a rapid ethnographic assessment, part of which included an online survey (N=137). Results: I found that 54.74% of the sample of reported hazardous drinking over the past 12 months, 33.48% reported driving under the influence at some point in life, and 0% sought any treatment. Participant observation and unstructured interviews revealed that at this particular church, drunkenness was considered sinful among key informants, but many church members still drank heavily, often with other church members. Conclusion: We observed an interaction between religious and drinking cultures among second generation Korean American young and middle aged adults. Future research can explore the potential ways in which Korean Americans accommodate religious proscriptions and heavy drinking, and how awareness of discrepancies between behaviors and values may figure into preventive interventions.