Relationships between drinking and type of practice among US female and male attorneys

The author investigated the relationship between drinking and type of pract ice among U.S. attorneys. Participants were attorneys from 2 large midweste rn cities, chosen through stratified random sampling from bar-association m embership lists. Type of law practice was related to whether the participan ts drank in business-related situations but not to the frequency or the qua ntity of consumption. The participants in solo, corporate, or government pr actices were more likely than were those in private group practices to repo rt no business-related drinking in the past 30 days. Female and male attorn eys in similar practices reported similar abstention rates and quantities o f consumption in business situations, suggesting that occupational norms we re strongly salient for both genders. Criminal trial work was related to dr inking only for the women. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of occupational culture on drinking.