Abstract
There is no one set of beliefs, norms, and behaviors associated with the use of alcohol among Mexican-Americans in California. To understand why this is so, it is necessary to consider some of the characteristics of the Mexican-American population that makes up nearly one fifth of the state’s peoples. This group includes an estimated 1 to 3 million resident aliens, as well as many times that number who are second-, third-, and fourth-generation Americans. Successive waves of heavy immigration from Mexico, beginning in about 1910 and continuing to the present, have brought hundreds of thousands of persons from all parts of rural and urban Mexico to California. And in the last two decades, as second- and third-generation Mexican-Americans have reached maturity, considerable out-marriage has taken place, resulting in families of mixed heritage.
Support for the research on which this chapter is based was given through grants from the National Institute of Education, the National Institute of Mental Health, the California Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs, and the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse.
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Gilbert, M.J. (1985). Mexican-Americans in California. In: Bennett, L.A., Ames, G.M. (eds) The American Experience with Alcohol. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0530-7_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0530-7_14
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