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I have to do a research paper and i decided to do it on Children of Alcoholics but I'm not sure what aspect I should do it on since this is such a broad subject. If you have any ideas let me know, ASAP!
I had to do similar reports in college on this subject. The one I found to be most interesting was the genetic affect alcoholism had on the male children as opposed to the female children. The male children have a higher rate of alcoholism whereas the female children have a higher rate of being a hypochondriac. This will follow them throughout their lifetime anf have an effect on family, relationships, and self. Just an idea.
My husband and I belonged to an ACOA group years ago. I was in the spouse group and he was in the main group. We learned about how each child fit into the family. When I was at my daughter's treatment family meetings the names were changed. Some names we learned were, family clown, social worker, etc. This has always been very interesting to me. Oh, my husband was the lost child and he sure fit into the pattern of the lost child in his family and still does to this day at almost age 50! That is my suggestion :) cdb
An anthropolgical approach would be: Is there a stigma attached to being a child of an alcoholic parent? Does it vary from culture to culture? Or even does it vary in different demographic locations? ie. city vs. suburban vs. urban. Midwest vs. Northeast vs. South vs. West Coast or North America vs. Europe? When there are twins in the family, does it affect each twin differently?
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It's your life. Take no prisoners. You will have it your way.
Thanks all for your input and I hope more ideas also come. I've got four ideas of my own and they are: traits of children of alcoholics; roles of children of alcoholics; how children of alcoholics are affected by thier parent(s) drinking; characteristics of children of alcoholics but I can't decide which of these ideas to go with. So I hope anyone will tell me which idea I sohlud go with or if I should combine two of them or anything, please.
The topic you choose may depend on what class is it for. For a phych class, sociology, biology, anthropology, etc. My degree is in anthropolgy. I found that I could bring in other sciences and perspectives. Whatever you choose, look at the other disciplines for ideas. They are all interconnected. But the way you slant (?) your paper will be based on the class you are doing it for. Don't forget to pick a topic that yoy have the most interest in. Nothing worse than having to do a paper which is boring. Hope that's helpful.
Live strong, Karilynn
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It's your life. Take no prisoners. You will have it your way.
Whenever I have had to do research papers, I get a vague idea of what I want to do. Then I begin doing research and taking notes. If I am not completely sure of what the thesis is going to be, I watch how the early research begins and see how it unfolds. Usually after several days I can tell how the paper is headed, what has peaked my interest and the topic actually gives itself to me.
Hope that's helpful. 
