A Sociological Theory of Drug Addiction

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2200159
AutoresAlfred R Lindesmith (autor correspondente)
Ano1938
Volume43
Fascículo4
Páginas593-613
Data de publicação1938-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/217773
OpenAlexW2060120017
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas45

Current theories of drug addiction tend to be moralistic rather than scientific. Any satisfactory theory must attempt to account for the fact that the repeated administration of opiates sometimes is followed by addition and sometimes is not. The factor which accounts for this differential effect appears to be the person's knowledge or belief, supplied him by his cultural milieu, concerning the nature of the distress that accompanies the sudden cessation of the opiate. If he fails to realize the connection between this distress and the opiate he escapes addiction, whereas if he attributes the discomfort to the opiate and thereafter uses the opiate to alleviate it he invariably becomes addicted. Addiction is generated in the process of using the drug consciously to alleviate withdrawal distress. No exceptions to this theory could be found. It is confirmed by analysis of certain aspects of addict argot and by the consideration of certain types of crucial cases. The theory provides a simple means of accounting for many aspects of the habit. It is methodologically significant in that it is based upon case data and is at the same time universal in form and subject to definite verification or disproof

Addiction · Distress · Epistemology · Opiate · Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Subject (documents) · Computer Science · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes