Addiction in Contemporary Society

Course Description:

To examine addictions as contemporary and trans-historical phenomena that

have not only profound biological and psychological dimensions but also deep

social and cultural aspects, in order to develop a constructively critical

awareness of notions and concepts of addiction, as well as of the beliefs,

attitudes, societal rules and practices about how addictive behaviours should be

regarded and treated.

CourseThemes

Addictions describe a set of phenomena that are constructed and reshaped

within the context of historical and cultural factors. In that context, addiction

emerges as a very dynamic concept, one that is undergoing continuing

development, even as it tends to be taken for granted as an axiomatic, selfevident

issue with straightforward solutions. We will explore models of

addiction and addiction treatment to develop an integrated bio-psycho-socialstructural

perspective.

Course Objectives:

To explore the following questions:

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• What are drugs, and how do they work?

• Does a biological model of drug use offer an adequate understanding of

why people use psychoactive drugs?

• What does it mean to say someone is using, abusing, misusing, dependent

on, or addicted to drugs?

• What are there positive aspects to drug use? How do they compare to the

risks and harms?

• Is drug use inherent in human cultures or peculiar to particular circumstances

or persons?

• What does it mean to talk about there being an addictive personality?

• Is addiction a bigger concept than drug abuse?

• Are our views and practices regarding drug use socially constructed? And if

so, how?

• What does it mean to talk about “drug culture”?

• What are the relationships between desire, appetite, pleasure and addiction

behaviours?

• What are the relationships between distress, suffering, drug use and other

addictive behaviours?

• How are drug use and addiction presented and portrayed in cultural media

such as music, cinema, journalism and literature? How does this change

depend on socio-cultural setting?

• What roles do the state and its institutions play in regard to the

production, marketing and use of drugs, and other addictive behaviours

such as gambling?

• How do societies determine what is acceptable and problematic about drug

use and other potentially addictive behaviours?

• Is a biomedical perspective adequate and sufficient for understanding and

treating addictive behaviour in individuals?

• Can addictive behaviours be effectively prevented and treated? What are

the forms of prevention and treatment that are used? How successful are

they?

• What is the role of spirituality in recovery from addictions?

• Do people with drug problems have to stop altogether, or can they learn

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to use in moderation?

• What has happened to our understanding and approaches to addiction in

the age of HIV and AIDS?

• What is harm reduction? Why and how has it emerged as an approach to

addiction issues?

• What is the future of addiction as a socially constructed and mediated

human behaviour?

• How can social work perspectives be helpful in exploring and developing

effective understanding of addiction in contemporary society?

CourseObjectives

• To present an overview of addictions that draws on theoretical and

conceptual models, scientific data, narratives of people affected by

addiction, and the lived experience and knowledge of course

participants

• To develop an understanding and awareness of addiction as a socially

constructed concept that defines parameters of normalcy and deviancy

and shapes social, legal, and medical perceptions and actions towards

people affected by these problems

• To explore the ways that individuals construct and evaluate themselves

as affected by and suffering from problematic drug use and other

addictive behaviours

• To use cultural evidence found in films, book, and music to identify and

examine the ways that addiction is employed as a meaningful concept for

understanding the relationship between need, desire, appetite,

consumption, satiation, and pleasure and human behaviour at the personal,

interpersonal and cultural levels

• To employ addictions as a context for exploring Social Work as a set of

beliefs, theories and practices?

• To deconstruct implicit assumptions regarding selfhood,

interpersonality, normalcy and deviance that inhere in concepts such as

addiction, abuse, dependence, self-control, loss of control, treatment and

recovery

• To engage in a shared exploration of a fundamental dimension of human

experience in ways that respects differences, encourages open dialogue

and enhances critical thinking regarding key social issues

• To explore “drug cultures” (and other addiction cultures) as variants of

human community, with positive and negative aspects, where meaning is

made, contested, imposed and resisted, and where identities are

performed, shaped, preserved and change.

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