Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Native Americans

Native American women of child-bearing age, as a group, are at risk because of the disproportionate consumption of alcohol among these women. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been found to be an important factor in the development of many problems in later life for infants born with fetal alcohol syndrome. This research focuses on risk reduction for fetal alcohol syndrome among Native Americans.

Enhanced Risk of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Among Native Americans

The infant mortality rate for Native-Americans is higher than that of European-Americans, and one of the contributing factors is alcohol abuse among pregnant Native-American women. Young Native-Americans indulge in higher levels of alcohol consumption than any other racial or ethnic population group in the United States (Markey & Stone, 1997).

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) also affects a much higher proportion of Native-American babies because of higher rates of maternal alcoholism, with FAS standing at a level six times that of the general population) (Kelley, 1992). Because almost 20 percent of Native-American newborns suffer from FAS, massive alcohol education and prevention efforts have been mounted in Native-American communities. Some tribal programs have had more success than governmental programs in the process of reducing prenatal drinking among Native-American pregnant women. However, the fact that there is high acceptance

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tribes from both the contiguous 48 states and Alaska. The urban Native-American population served by the SIHB and the SIAP is one of the most diverse in the country as far as tribal affiliation is concerned (Kelley, 1992). In programs and policies dealing with physical health and alcoholism, it is vital that attention be directed to the underlying values of Native-American clients if rehabilitation goals are to be met (Hess & Kenner, 1998). The traditional Alcoholics Anonymous approach has been shown to be incompatible with several strongly held Native-American traditional values (Kelley, 1992). These traditional values include not admitting personal weakness, not making public confessions, and not drawing attention to oneself. Further, marginally literate Native-Americans have a culture which relies on songs, stories, and legends for guidance, and this population has been unwilling and often unable to make use of the many printed materials offered by Alcoholics Anonymous. Social Orientation Using a multi-modal and social orientation, SIAP has achieved better success than similarly structured programs from the dominant culture programs, and in part, this is because it places its emphasis on Native-American culture and val
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