The influence of alcoholism on divorce rate

Alcohol is nowadays a tolerated drug which has a destructive effect not only on the consumer, but even on the whole society. The Czech Republic occupies the first place in alcohol consumption rate per an adult person per year; it means 16.6 litres of pure alcohol, the most in the European Union. Annually, up to 2.5 million people die worldwide as a result of the harmful alcohol use. The bachelor thesis concerning the topic of the influence of alcoholism on the divorce rate is divided into a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part focuses on the information and findings in the specialized literature. The attention is paid on the history of alcoholism. It deals with the definition of addiction, its signs and developmental stages at onset of alcohol addiction. The following chapter concerns with the biological, psychological and sociocultural causes of the onset of alcohol addiction.Alcohol addiction is often connected with unemployment, homelessness, frequent injuries and transport crashes under the influence of alcohol and crimes. This problem is a concern of a single chapter. Nowadays more attention is paid to alcoholism among women. A pregnant woman consuming alcohol endangers the fetal development and through her addiction she disturbs the family functioning more than a man. The thesis follows with the chapter concerning the influence of addiction on a family. There I want to show how alcohol addiction of a family member disturbs the fulfilling of the basic family functions for encouraging the correct development and socialisation of a child. A marriage burdened with alcohol addiction solves this malignant situation by the means of divorce. At the end of the theoretical part I direct my attention to the treatment of alcoholism, which is very diverse, although among the most common methods belong detoxification, ambulatory care, stationary and institutional treatment. There I mention the importance of subsequent care which helps to an abstinent to deal with pitfalls of life out of the sanatorium and live a satisfying life without alcohol.The empirical part was worked out on the basis of a quality empirical research by the means of structured dialogues. The research was carried out in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in České Budějovice and in Olomouc. The researched group consisted of ten members of Alcoholics Anonymous, five men and five women. The research comprised 31 questions.Six respondents underwent the anti-alcohol treatment because of the family. The average length of marriage, from the beginning of drinking to the divorce, was 4.3 years. Most respondents agreed that there was no impulse which led to the end of the marriage, the only reason was long-term dysfunctional relationship due to alcohol addiction. Only two respondents reported that the last impulse for divorce was adultery and dropping of child, both under the influence of alcohol. Broken family relationships differ in many cases. The most often the respondents moved away from the family, two respondents even broke the contact with the family. All women respondents were separated from the child, primarily due to the beginning of a treatment or due to the protection of the child. Two respondents meet their families after the divorce, mainly because of preventing children from this awkward situation. The change of respondent´s relationship towards children was very significant. Three respondents broke the contact with the family and children at all. Other respondents undertook a long journey to gain confidence of their children and to re establish the previous relationships. Seven respondents supported this process owing to the treatment and effort to live a sober life. Nine respondents fulfilled or fulfil the obligations towards their children, only in one case the respondent found himself in an unfavourable financial situation