Controversies in the Addiction Field

Ruth Clifford Engs, Editor/Author. CONTROVERSIES IN THE ADDICTION FIELD, Kendal-Hunt: Dubuque, Iowa, 1990

This book addresses some of the controversial issues found in the addiction field. Chapters within the topical outline cover various viewpoints to the following questions: "What is the nature of substance (alcohol and drug) use disorders; Should we have public policies to prevent these disorders; Should the minimum drinking (purchase age) be lowered, Should we have mandatory drug testing at the worksite; Are warning labels effective in preventing alcohol use disorders; Should women be advised to abstain completely from alcohol during pregnancy; Are school based alcohol/drug education and harm reduction programs effective; Should abstinence be the only treatment model for alcohol use disorder (alcoholism)?

In soliciting authors for the volume, noted researchers and scholars, known for a particular viewpoint, were contacted. Because of time commitments some were not able to contribute but readily offered names of colleagues. A few for political reasons and personal philosophies declined the invitation and is discussed in the introduction. In a few sections, where researchers could not be found, nationally known advocates for a particular issue were asked to participate. Also, some emerging scholars and academicians were asked to contribute so that there would be a mixture of seasoned authors and new emerging talent in the field.

Sample from Controversies in the Addiction Field

INTRODUCTION

As a researcher and educator who has investigated drinking patterns for almost twenty years, I have become deeply concerned over increased polarization between different factions in the field during the past decade in the United States and to a minor extent in Canada. I am concerned that this hostility has not only led to disharmony and discord but has, even more importantly, profoundly prevented workable solutions towards alcohol and other drug abuse problems in North America. As part of this accelerating conflict, conferences and publications have been forthcoming with only ONE side of a particular issue being presented, usually as the sole way to solve a problem. Individuals with dissenting viewpoints have not been encouraged or even invited to partake of these forums. Consequently the previous publications and conferences have all been one sided.

Therefore, as a scholar I felt that the airing of conflicting ideas, in one book, could be a step towards mutual understanding and acceptance and a vehicle to help bridge the divide between differing points of views and philosophies. Thus the purpose of this publication was to get under one cover differing opinions concerning various controversial issues and to discuss these differences in a scholarly manner based upon the research.

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CONTENTS

• Foreword
• Introduction by Ruth C. Engs
• Author list
• Section A: What is the nature of alcoholism and/or drug addiction?
  • Chapter 1: The grand unification theory of alcohol abuse: It's time to stop fighting each other and start working together by Reid K. Hester and Nancy Sheehy
  • Chapter 2: Evidence for a genetic factor in alcoholism by Donald W. Goodwin
  • Chapter 3: Neurobiological and genetic basis for alcoholism based upon research in animal models by Ting-Kai Li
  • Chapter 4: Neurobiological basis of alcohol reinforcement and drinking by Robert D. Myers
  • Chapter 5: Environmental basis for alcoholic disorders: Future prospects by Howard T. Blane
  • Chapter 6: Why we should reject the disease concept of alcoholism by Herbert Fingarette
  • Chapter 7: The biopsychosocial model: Application to the addictions field by Karol L. Kurnpfer, Eric P. Trunnell and Henry O. Whiteside
• Section B: Do we need a variety of public policies to prevent alcohol abuse?
  • Chapter 8: Thinking about alcohol controls by Robin Room
  • Chapter 9: Flawed policies from flawed premises: Pseudo-science about alcohol and drugs by Dwight B. Heath
• Section C: Should the minimum drinking (purchase age) be lowered?
  • Chapter 10: The drinking age should be lowered by David J. Hanson
  • Chapter 11: Why we need a minimum purchase age of 21 by Richard J. Goeman
• Section D: should we have mandatory drug testing at the worksite?
  • Chapter 12: Mandatory random testing needs to be undertaken at the worksite by Robert L. DuPont
  • Chapter 13: Drug testing: Probable cause only by Thomas J. Delaney, Jr
• Section E: Should there be more regulations and restrictions on alcohol beverage advertisements?
  • Chapter 14: Alcohol advertising: Regulation can help by Kimberly Neuendorf
  • Chapter 15: Alcohol advertising: Restrictions without due cause by Hal Shoup and Christine Dobday
• Section F: Are warning labels effective in preventing alcohol abuse?
  • Chapter 16: The right to know by Donna Polowchena
  • Chapter 17: Health Warning labels on alcoholic beverages by David Pittman
• Section G: Should women be advised to abstain completely from alcohol during pregnancy?
  • Chapter 18: Drinking in pregnancy: A recommendation for complete abstinence by Sterling Clarren
  • Chapter 19: Is occasional light drinking during pregnancy harmful? by Ernest Abel and Robert Sokol
• Section H: Are school based alcohol/drug education programs effective?
  • Chapter 20: School based alcohol and drug education programs can be effective by Stuart Fors
  • Chapter 21: A review of school based drug education programs: Do we expect too much? by Louis Gliksman and Cynthia Smythe
  • Chapter 22: Alcohol and Drug Education: School and Community Factors by Gail Milgram
• Section I: Should abstinence be the only treatment model for alcoholism and problem drinking?
  • • Chapter 23: Abstinence and non-abstinence goals in treatment: A case study in the sociology of knowledg by John Wallace
    • Chapter 24: Toward client choice in treatment for alcohol-related problems by Martha Sanchez-Craig

  Further Information:

  ISBN-13: 978-0840360571
  ISBN-10: 0840360576