THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF DRUG ABUSE (Public Policy and Management) [Paperback]

SUSSMAN (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0335206182 | ISBN-13: 978-0335206186 | Publication Date: December 21, 2001

* Is drug abuse a disease? * What causes drug abuse? * How can drug abuse be best prevented or treated? This concise and comprehensive overview unravels the complexities surrounding the definition, cause and treatment of drug abuse. The authors set out the different classes of drugs of abuse, distinguish drug use from abuse, and consider whether or not drug abuse should be seen as a disease. They go on to examine other compulsive behaviours, such as eating disorders and pathological gambling, for their similarities and differences from drug abuse, and detail current methods of assessing drug abuse. Numerous extra-personal and intra-personal predictors of drug use and abuse are examined, including drug distribution systems, and biological factors, as well as social psychological factors. Finally, the authors present the wide spectrum of current prevention and treatment programmes and discuss future directions in the prevention and cessation of drug abuse. This book takes an international approach and provides vital information on key issues, presenting its material from a social psychological perspective, but drawing on work in public health, clinical psychology and sociology. Each chapter provides a summary and tables to help the reader integrate the information. It will prove invaluable not only to undergraduate and postgraduate students, but to counsellors, researchers, and policy makers.

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About the Author

Steve Sussman received his doctorate in psychology from the Univeristy of Illinois at Chicago. He is now a professor at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at the University of Southern California. He has published over 160 articles in the areas of drug abuse prevention and cessation, and empirical programme development. Particular research interests include psychosocial prediction of tobacco and other drug use, and drug abuse prevention and cessation. Susan L. Ames earned her doctorate in health behaviour research from the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California. She is a part-time staff research associate at the Center for Research on Substance Abuse at the University of California, Los Angeles and part-time research associate at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include the impact of memory on addictive behaviours, developing prediction models of substance use, prevention and harm reduction of addictive behaviours, and the psychosocial correlates of drug use.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Open University Press (December 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0335206182
• ISBN-13: 978-0335206186
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,894,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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