rns (Rothberg, 1986). Black (Beattie, 1987) notes that the rules governing the roles and games within alcoholic family units, which act to sustain their existence, include: "Don't Talk"; "Don't Feel"; and, "Don't Trust."
As evidenced above, the dynamics of alcoholism cannot be solely attributed to the intrapsychic processes of the alcoholic but, rather, to a combination of contributions on the part of family members as well as the disturbed personality of the alcoholic (Rothberg, 1986). This perspective, therefore, contends that the disease alcoholism is a "family affair" in which dysfunctionalism is shared by all important members of the family, and not just the alcoholic. Thus, in contrast to numerous theories formulated during the earlier days of research on the topic of alcoholism (i.e., pre-1950s), the wife of the alcoholic is perceived as having intra-psychic problems as is her spouse, although her emotional deficits may not evidence the same degree. In support of this position, Bailey (Rothberg, 1986, 74) notes that "As a dysfunction, alcoholism exists in the context of an imbalance in functioning in the total system. Every important member plays a part in the dysfunction of the dysfunctional members." This perspective, therefore, provides a way in which conceptualization can be had relative to the roles and games played by important family members (i.e., alcoholic and his or her spouse) in the dysfunction of the total family
Douglas (1982) reports that families, like other groups, are influenced by a variety of variables occurring both within and outside them. The input from the various family members and how they interact between each other, however, is the primary variable that influences family systems dynamics. To this goal, all family members have roles in the given dysfunction, but important family members have roles that are of greater significance to the maintenance of the particular dysfunction. Bowen (...