Ideology and referral categories in employee assistance program research

Article Abstract:

Practitioners tend to employ cultural referral categories when classifying what has motivated clients to enter employee assistance programs (EAPs). These categories are rooted in ideology and used in ways that often conceal the diverse factors leading troubled employees to seek help. In particular, application of the term "self-referral" has grown dramatically while application of the term "supervisory referral" has declined, which may reflect practitioners' underlying beliefs about how employees ought to use EAPs. The article discusses some studies of alcohol treatment efforts for which the use of cultural referral categories made interpretation of the findings difficult. Following a review of the medical and psychiatric literature on seeking help, the authors call for construction of a grounded theory based on qualitative research, and recommend that EAPs develop more accurate classifications for labeling cases. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Human resource management, Management research, Employee motivation

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Drinking behavior and risk factors related to the work place: implications for research and prevention

Article Abstract:

This article presents review of the literature addressing employees' alcohol abuse and dependence. Based on this review, the authors identify four perspectives adopted by social scientists studying drinking behavior and the work place. The work culture perspective postulates that administrative and occupational subcultures establish norms for alcohol use. The social control perspective postulates that an organization's disciplinary structure may either inhibit or create opportunities for the development of drinking problems. The alienation perspective and the work stress perspective postulate that various work place conditions (e.g., boring tasks, work overload) cause distress, which employees may seek to relieve with alcohol. The authors recommend that these four perspectives guide future research and current efforts to reduce risk factors in the work place that are associated with drinking behavior. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Organizational behavior

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Contrasting employee assistance, health promotion, and quality of work life programs and their effects on alcohol abuse and dependence

Article Abstract:

Numerous programs addressing employee alcohol abuse and dependence have appeared in organizations in the US since the 1940s. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have effectively used a dual strategy of constructive confrontation and counseling for dealing with problem drinkers at the work site. In many organizations, however, practitioners have begun to treat problem drinkers by altering this strategy and-or relying on health promotion programs (HPPs) and quality of work life (QWL) efforts. This article compares EAPs, HPPs, and QWL, discussing their theoretical underpinnings, methods, and demonstrated effectiveness in treating alcohol abuse and dependence. The author encourages cooperation among EAP, HPP and QWL practitioners in addressing work place factors related to drinking problems, and makes several recommendations for future research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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