Treating drunk driving: Burmese refugees’ alcohol misuse and its implications for social work practice and education

ABSTRACT

An alarming number of DUI/DWI arrests of Burmese refugees stirred public concerns in a Midwestern city. Unfortunately, the community’s responses to the crisis came to an end after years of effort to make a change. The study seeks to explain why this occurred and uses this case to reflect on refugee research and social work practice. This article analyzes how the ineffectiveness in three social institutions – the criminal justice system, the mental health care system, and Burmese churches – led to the failure to correct alcohol misuse behavior among the Burmese. Burmese offenders’ language barriers and unfamiliarity with the criminal justice system led to their quick conviction. Once entering court-ordered therapy, their cultural differences in perceiving mental illness and their lack of language proficiency minimized the intended benefit of alcohol addiction treatment. Furthermore, Burmese pastors normalized drinking as part of Burmese culture, which underestimates the indication of excessive drinking for potential mental health issues. Drawing from the findings, the article discusses the impact of excessive drinking on refugees’ social integration and the implications for social work practice and education.

KEYWORDS:

• Burmese refugees
• mental health services
• alcohol misuse
• culturally sensitive practice
• social work education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award (FRACAA) at Western Michigan University. An earlier version of the article was presented at the American Sociological Association annual conference.