The historic nature of research on alcohology typologies
Just as there are different ways of drinking alcohol, there are also different ways of conceptualizing the consumption of alcohol. In order to “separate” or “distinguish” individuals and social groups according to their drinking practices, different conceptual approaches have been proposed over the years, including classifications of drinking types. A “type” is an abstract concept that groups and distinguishes subjects or objects based on common characteristics. In alcohology, certain typologies aim to precisely distinguish problematic or pathological drinkers from non-problematic or non-pathological drinkers. Other typologies seek rather to distinguish societies based on dominant drinking practices within the population. Highlighting how researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds have contributed to the development of alcohology typologies and presenting the historic nature of a multidisciplinary field of research, this article examines the findings of pathological and sociocultural approaches to typology research in the 20th and 21st centuries and sheds light on future challenges in the alcohology of populations.