ABSTRACT
Much has been written about the impact of the presence of a designated driver on patrons' consumption, but heretofore, its impact on the behaviour of the server has been virtually ignored. The goal of this paper, then, was to explore the potential impact of the presence of a designated driver on alcoholic beverage servers' self-reported willingness to knowingly serve an already intoxicated customer. chi(2) analysis of survey data collected from 938 licensed servers, in the state of Indiana, USA, was performed. Approximately 43% of the bartenders surveyed reported that they either would be or might be willing to over-serve an already intoxicated customer. Of those who answered the follow-up question as to under what conditions they would be willing to over-serve, almost 80% reported that they would do so if the patron were accompanied by a designated driver. The statistical significance of the relationship between these two variables (.000) raises the question of whether the Designated Driver Campaign has the latent function of enabling some servers to neutralize their responsibility for over-serving by disregarding other types of intoxication-related harm.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking/psychology , Alcoholic Intoxication , Automobile Driving , Motivation , Social Responsibility , Accidents, Traffic/prevention & control , Adult , Data Collection , Female , Harm Reduction , Healthy People Programs , Humans , Indiana , Male , RestaurantsABSTRACT
Our objective was to examine alcoholic beverage servers' willingness to over-serve as an explanation for intoxication that occurs in drinking establishments. Survey data were collected in 2000 from 911 alcoholic beverage servers in the State of Indiana, USA, with a grant from Indiana University. Chi-squared, analysis of variance, and step-wise regression were used to examine the influence of personal factors, location factors, management policies and practices, and larger societal control efforts on willingness to over-serve. Our findings support the need to examine managements' economic motivation and servers' personal drinking patterns as motivations for serving beyond intoxication in future research.
Subject(s)
Alcoholic Intoxication , Occupations , Restaurants , Social Responsibility , Adult , Data Collection , Female , Humans , Indiana , Male , MotivationABSTRACT
Despite alcohol server training programs and legal liability aimed at controlling intoxication, server intervention appears to be rare. Given the difficulty in assessing intoxication, it can be assumed that improvement in assessment skills would increase the likelihood of intervention. Unfortunately, little is known regarding practices servers use to identify intoxication. In order to build a more informed base for policy formation and server training, the focus of this inquiry was to examine practices used by servers to assess intoxication. The analysis was based upon questionnaires mailed to a random probability sample of licensed servers from one state (N = 822). Indicators found to be most important were examined in relation to a variety of occupational characteristics. Implications for training curricula, policy formation, and future research are discussed.
Subject(s)
Alcoholic Intoxication/diagnosis , Restaurants , Alcoholic Intoxication/physiopathology , Alcoholic Intoxication/prevention & control , Curriculum , Employment , Female , Humans , Indiana , Inservice Training , Licensure , Male , Organizational Policy , Public Policy , Restaurants/legislation & jurisprudence , Sampling Studies , Surveys and Questionnaires , WorkforceABSTRACT
Public drinking establishments have long been associated with heavy drinking among both their patrons and servers. Whether these environments represent locations where heavy drinking is learned (learning hypothesis) or simply places where already-heavy drinkers gather in a supportive environment (selection hypothesis) remains an important question. A sample of licensed alcoholic beverage servers in the state of Indiana, USA, was surveyed to better understand the drinking behaviors of servers within the alcohol service industry. Responses (N = 938) to a mailed questionnaire were analyzed to assess the relative influence of environmental and demographic factors on the drinking behavior of servers. Stepwise regression revealed "drinking on the job" as the most influential environmental factor on heavy drinking behaviors, followed by age and gender as influential demographic factors. Support was found for the selection hypothesis, but not for the learning hypothesis. Policy implications are discussed. factors on the drinking behavior of servers. Stepwise regression revealed "drinking on the job" as the most influential environmental factor on heavy drinking behaviors, followed by age and gender as influential demographic factors. Support was found for the selection hypothesis, but not for the learning hypothesis. Policy implications are discussed.
