FAMILY INTACTNESS AND TEENAGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: SOME COMPARISONS OF STUDENTS FROM MILITARY AND CIVILIAN COUNTIES IN THE SOUTHEAST.

This article discusses research which compares students from military and civilian counties in South Carolina in terms of family intactness and teenage alcohol consumption. This research focuses on deviant behavior, using as indicators, levels of alcohol use as well as family violence. A survey was completed in fall 1989 covering all public high schools in South Carolina. Private academies and youth in detention by the state were excluded. The first issue examined deals with intactness, the frequency with which children in the two categories of schools are located in intact or fragmented families. Next, the difference between the two groups in terms of social connections to their families was assessed. Concerns about the influence of the peer group were also tackled. Self-reports of deviance were also dealt. The last issue addressed was the difference between youth from military and nonmilitary areas in alcohol intake among those who were not abstainers. Based on the data obtained, the military families, while stressed, were functional. In terms of family intactness, there were differences between military and civilian areas. The three areas of deviance examined were misuse of automobiles, school related acts of deviances and alcohol intake. The greatest evident difference in the deviant behavior showed in respect to drinking.