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Theories of substance use abuse and dependence
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The world involving drug addiction is a taboo topic to many. However, drug addiction is a very real topic that occurs worldwide. The widespread use of drugs is not restricted to the United States, with roughly five percent of the world’s population using in the past few months (Mosher & Akins, 2014). Many scientists, doctors, and specialists study addiction and try to find an explanation for why so many become addicted. There are many theories regarding addiction. The Institute on Drug Abuse has their list of theories such as “the bad habit” and “the CAP theory (cognitive-affective pharmacogenic)” (n.d.). Hari, an author for the Huffington Post, writes about the Rat Park experiment in which a scientist put rats into “condos” in a nice cage …show more content…
Sociological theories focus on the social aspect and how the social structure plays a role instead of the individual. This theory looks at “differences in drug-taking behavior between and among societies, social categories, and individuals in the population, as well as among drug types” (Goode, 2011). Goode writes that early research of this theory found drug use to be a form of social deviance, with majority of drug users living in disorganized communities (2011). A sub theory within the sociological theories is referred to as social control. In this theory, “Social control theory assumes that violations of society’s norms are natural, understandable, and not in need of an explanation” (Goode, 2011). Hirschi founded a social bonding theory that states a drug user will engage in a deviant act, such as drug use, to the extent that the bond between society and themselves are broken or weakened (Mosher & Akins, 2014). If the bond between society and the person is strong, the less likely they will subject themselves to drug …show more content…
Within this theory, a person who observes others doing drugs will more likely become addicted to them. When we observe addictive behaviors such as drinking or drug use, we, as humans, may want to copy their actions (Horvath, Misra, Epner, & Morgan Cooper, 2015). With this theory, the psychological and sociological effects come into play, with the reinforcement and punishment, or operant conditioning. An example given by Mosher and Akins is as follows; someone who is smoking marijuana may get reinforcement by their friends while the effects of the drug is negative
Many people dislike the term ‘addiction’ in relation to drugs or other substances, particularly as it infers that a person is powerless over their use of a particular drug or in some circumstances, a number of substances. Whilst others maintain it is this powerlessness that is the foundation of diagnosis and treatment – that treatment is not possible without recognition of addiction itself as the ‘problem’ being addressed. The professional and public perception of addiction is complicated. There are many approaches and models to explain addiction, the role of the addict, and their environment. This essay will compare and contrast two of these approaches, the medical/disease and the social model. Initially this essay will describe the origins of each model, and follow by explaining their respective strengths and weaknesses, and finish with an overview of the key differences between them. This essay will conclude by demonstrating that a holistic approach, and a cross-pollination of these models is the most successful approach to treating addicts. As is the case for all diseases, there are multiple treatment options, and as ever person is different, the results in each individual cannot be predicted.
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
...haviors he so wishes to comprehend are those whom he labels as The Cocaine Kids. Now that examples of these drug sellers’ behaviors have been provided, the criminological theories that can explain such behaviors have been made visible to the unseen eye. Criminological theories including the theory of Differential Association, the Subculture of Violence Theory, and the Social Learning Theory can be viewed as methods for developing a knowledgeable understanding of how and why such behaviors introduced individuals to the drug-selling world, kept them submerge deep within it, and allowed for them to leave it.
al, 2015; Hoffman, 2003). It suggests that interaction with others teaches individuals certain values and attitudes. Youth may encounter those that engage in problem behaviors, thus they have a greater risk to become involved in that same behavior because they have learned the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behaviors (Monahan, Rhew, Hawkins, & et. al, 2013). Peer groups are suppose to regulate peer group activity when there is a lack of community institutions. However, these peer groups could be quite negative to the individual. Like the theory states, those peers that involve themselves in criminal behavior will most likely cause the individual to follow in their footsteps. These types of peer groups are said to be found in high risk neighborhoods because there is a lack of surveillance and discipline due to financial instability. And peer groups tend to pressure other to join in on their delinquent behavior. No one wants to be the person left behind or made fun of for not being “man” enough to join them. So, unfortunately, individuals are forced into the situation that their peers involve themselves in, whether that be gang banging, selling drugs, or robbing a
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2012). History and Etiology Models of Addiction. In D. Capuzzi, Foundations of Addictions Counseling (pp. 13-24). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved April 26, 2014
The multi-causal model of drug abuse takes into account social and individual causes of addiction, both distant and immediate, that lead to a disposition to using drugs, drug use and the social and individual consequences. Why a person becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol is different for everyone. Some are genetically predisposed, some learn it from their environment (i.e. family or friends), and still others use it to avoid a trauma they have experienced. The case history describes a client that had both social and individual causes for her alcohol use and subsequent dependence.
Bruce Alexander’s Rat Park experiment of addiction appears to be applicable to human drug addictions. Alexander explains that addiction is not caused by chemical hooks, but by the environment people surround themselves with. Addiction is a common theme in all forms of rhetoric we have viewed for this class. As we see in The Wire, Bubbles is a serious heroin addict using his shopping cart business to bring in money to purchase more drugs. Similar to the situation of the rats, Bubbles may not have a dangerous addiction to the drug if he was in an environment where he wa happy and had more control of his life.
The social disorganization perspective follows the substance users to their living era and environment. Social disorganization perspective examines why individuals more from one environment to another and how they struggle to adjust to new environment, and how they are lured or forced into substance user, deviance, or criminal activity in the face of difficulty from the new environment or due to their individual maladjustments.
George F. Koob defines addiction as a compulsion to take a drug without control over the intake and a chronic relapse disorder (1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association defined "substance dependence" as a syndrome basically equivalent to addiction, and the diagnostic criteria used to describe the symptoms of substance dependence to a large extent define compulsion and loss of control of drug intake (1). Considering drug addiction as a disorder implies that there are some biological factors as well as social factors.
Theories strive to explain how things work and thus sociological theory tries to describe how the social world functions. According to Calhoun, the social world consists of behaviors, interactions, as well as patterns of social organization amongst humans even though some would contend that the sociology of organized nonhuman animals is also possible (Calhoun 37). The sociological theory focuses more on the interactions and organization than behavior, essentially; however, the interactions are interpersonal behaviors that build patterns of social organization. Therefore, even though organization and interaction are subject matters of most theories, most theories, have traces of human behavior with emphasis on social organization and interaction.
So, it is clear that addiction is all around us and can attack anyone of us at any given time. Even studies conducted show that people neglect to speak around their dependency for two primary reasons. Foremost, because people do not comprehend, or they bear a total misconception to their addiction, that they do not realize that addictions can be critical to their overall wellness. Moreover, second, many people believe being an addict will never happen to them, but, in reality, most addictions start off as simple little habits. Such as starting with one drink after dinner and before you know it you are drinking several drinks a day. However, one does not opt to be addicted to a substance, because addictions are physical defects in the brain, a disease, and not one’s choice.
Social Control Theory presumes that people will naturally commit crime if there were left to their own devices (i.e. no laws in society) and people do not commit crimes because of certain controlling forces, such as social bonds that hold individuals back partaking on their anti social behavior (Bell, 2011). Examples of controlling forces are family, school, peers, and the law. Young people who are t... ... middle of paper ... ... nd delinquent are more likely to partake in committing criminal behavior (Shaefer and Haaland, 2011, p.155-156).
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.