The Barrow Studies: an Alaskan's perspective.

Dr. Edward Foulks and his colleagues had been asked in 1979 to be a subcontractor on a study commissioned by The City of Barrow Department of Public Safety relating to their concern about traumatic deaths associated with alcohol abuse in their community. The goal as outlined by the Department was "to receive research results which might enable (the Department) to establish more effective programs to reduce morbidity and mortality." In this present paper, Foulks presents a retrospective look at this study. Foulks denotes the differentiation of the scientific merits of his research from the political naivete of his group as well as the political, social, and ethical uproar that ensued as a result of this naivete when the data was released. I certainly would agree that the baseline data that Fou Iks gathered was valid as a core sample. I would also find, however, that although the study included the Kraus and Buffler (1977) statewide data on suicide and alcohol, it did not address the enormity and pervasiveness of the "alcohol problem" in all of Alaska.