The Meaning of Addiction: An Unconventional View [Paperback]

Stanton Peele (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787943827 | ISBN-13: 978-0787943820 | Publication Date: August 28, 1998 | Edition: 1998 Reissued Paper Edition

A controversial and persuasive analysis of addiction

A tour de force, a spectacular effort of research and understanding. This book gives us the courage to bypass disease notions to deal with intrapsychic, family system, and social and cultural dynamics in addiction.
?David Cook, Counseling and Psychological Services, University of Wisconsin

This compelling and controversial book challenges the widely accepted belief that alcohol and drug addiction have a genetic or biological basis. The so-called disease theory
suggests that a substance or activity can cause the addict to lose control of his behavior. Stanton Peele demonstrates how this notion fails to make sense of scientific observations.

Analyzing studies of drug and cigarette addiction, alcoholism, obesity, and other potential compulsions such as running and sex, Peele reveals the surprising frequency of self-cure as part of the evidence. The author finds that compulsive habits and depAndency are a way of coping that individuals can reverse as their life circumstances change. This brilliantly argued book is sure to provoke discussion and stimulate new approaches to treatment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A tour de force, a spectacular effort of research and understanding. This book gives us the courage to bypass disease notions to deal with intrapsychic, family system, and social and cultural dynamics in addiction." (David Cook, Counseling and Psychological Services, University of Wisconsin)

"The Meaning of Addiction presented a new paradigm of addiction. The field has since become more open to the kind of complex, contextual view of addiction and compulsive behavior that it presents. Nonetheless, it remains the classic source for expressing this point of view." (Archie Brodsky, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School)

"Peele's theory of 'addiction as an experience' in The Meaning of Addiction remains a pathbreaking one that offers readers an accessible and empowering understanding of their own experiences, desires, and addictions. For understanding addictions, Peele is in my view (and for my courses on this subject) still the source of all sources." (Richard J. DeGrandpre, Department of Psychology, St. Michael's College, Burlington, Vermon)

"Stanton Peele's books have been instrumental in helping me understand my own underlying causes of addiction and how, however well-intentioned the 12-step model is, it led me to focus on the wrong aspects of addiction." (Marianne Gilliam, author, How Alcoholics Anonymous Failed Me)

"Offers a thought-provoking, insightful, and controversial perspective on the etiology of addictive behaviors. Peele challenges the biological model and provides an important alternative view on addictive behaviors. The Meaning of Addiction should be required reading for students and professionals alike." (Kim Fromme, Department of Psychology, University of Texas)

"Given the extraordinary, but largely unsubstantiated, confidence that many in both the public an professional ranks have in simplistic conceptualizations of addictive behavior, it is reassuring that sophisticated and provocative alternatives such as those proposed by Stanton Peele in The Meaning of Addiction surface from time to time. It offers hope for constructive change by putting reason an choice back into the addiction formula." (Alan R. Lang, Department of Psychology, Florida State University)

"This is a book to be read slowly, to be taken seriously, and to be debated hotly by every professional in the field. This whole subject is one of the major medical political and society problems of our civilization, and we seem unable to find any workable solution." (John A. Owen, Jr., M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine)

From the Inside Flap

An Unconventional View of Addictive Behavior as Adaptation to the Psychological, Family, Social, and Cultural Environment"The Meaning of Addiction presented a new paradigm of addiction. The field has since become more open to the kind of complex, contextual view of addiction and compulsive behavior that it presents. Nonetheless, it remains the classic source for expressing this point of view." —Archie Brodsky, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School" Peele's theory of 'addiction as an experience' in The Meaning of Addiction remains a pathbreaking one that offers readers an accessible and empowering understanding of their own experiences, desires, and addictions. For understanding addictions, Peele is in my view (and for my courses on this subject) still the source of all sources." ?Richard J. DeGrandpre, Department of Psychology, St. Michael's College, Burlington, Vermont" Stanton Peele's books have been instrumental in helping me understand my own underlying causes of addiction and how, however well-intentioned the 12-step model is, it led me to focus on the wrong aspects of addiction."?Marianne Gilliam, author, How Alcoholics Anonymous Failed Me"Offers a thought-provoking, insightful, and controversial perspective on the etiology of addictive behaviors. Peele challenges the biological model and provides an important alternative view on addictive behaviors. The Meaning of Addiction should be required reading for students and professionals alike."?Kim Fromme, Department of Psychology, University of Texas

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1998 Reissued Paper Edition edition (August 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787943827
• ISBN-13: 978-0787943820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Master's Student, November 4, 2006

By 

Christina M. Zuno (Langhorne, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Meaning of Addiction: An Unconventional View (Paperback)

This book is very useful for those looking outside of traditional addiction theories. It shows that the theories that have been previously presented are limited and not as comprehensive as it they need to be. Excellent book for an addictions class or a review of recent theories.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Self-promotional and off-balance, April 3, 2011

By 

Paul Beauchamp - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Meaning of Addiction: An Unconventional View (Paperback)

This is a largely self-promotional work. The author has made a living for years holding himself out as an expert on addiction. Unfortunately, to do this, he has to claim to have something new and different to offer the addicted. This is how one sells books. To this end, he denigrates the 12-step approach which has helped literally millions of alcoholics and addicts of all types. This book is an overview of hand-picked addictions research. It is not a book for those that actually have an addiction and will not be helpful to those that have, except as a way to bolster one's denial and put off effective treatment.