Term Paper on "Should Drug Addiction Be Considered a Disease"
Term Paper 4 pages (1106 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Sociology - Drug Addiction TheoryDRUG ADDICTION and THEORIES of DISEASE
Drug addiction is unlike other medical diseases, primarily because it is the result of voluntary behavior rather from exposure to bacterial organisms, viruses, or from genetic disorder. Whereas symptoms normally associated with organic diseases are well defined in strictly objective terms, the symptoms of addiction rely on subjective definition, and to a large degree, on cultural norms and expectations (Reinarman, 2005).
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), drug addiction is a brain- based disease, but many researchers dispute that conclusion, because the brain studies upon which it is based pertain equally to other non-medical behaviors, such as gambling, exercise, sex, eating, and even shopping, all of which are also capable of being indulged without resulting in addiction. In many respects, addiction characterizes a particular response among some individuals to behaviors indulged benignly by many others.
Admittedly, addiction may represent numerous social and behavioral components, as well as genetic predisposition that varies significantly from individual to individual.
No single component of behavior and no single aspect of inherent predisposition necessarily results in addiction on its own. Furthermore, certain individuals with the genetic predisposition do not develop addiction, even after indulging in the behavioral component that gives rise to addiction in others.
Therefore, it may very well be that defining addiction strictly, either as a behavior or strictly as a disease, is impossible
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Distinguishing Disease and Behavior in Drug Addiction:
Ordinarily, persons suffering from organic disease present very specific symptoms by which the disease is identified. While many symptoms of disease are not, by themselves, associated only with a disease, certain combinations of symptoms are universally characteristic of specific diseases, with well-defined expected durations and outcomes. Where human disease or condition is a function of organic physiological abnormality, every individual plagued with the specific abnormality that characterizes a particular disease or condition presents the same types of symptoms, with relatively few exceptions. Likewise, where the etiology of a disease is linked to exposure to bacterial organisms or other naturally-occurring or synthetic contaminants, that exposure nearly always results in disease onset, except in cases of natural immunity. Unlike different responses to addiction-prone drugs, instances where immunity confers protection are capable of being definitively identified and their mechanisms understood, strictly in objective principle.
A fundamental difficulty in characterizing drug addiction as a disease is that so many individuals indulge in the very same behavior without developing any symptoms of addiction at all (Sullum, 2003). Conversely, other researchers suggest that addictive behaviors like adult alcoholism are capable of prediction far in advance, by quantifying general behaviors of pre-adolescence and adolescence (LeGrand, 2005). However, the observations relied upon by LeGrand for this conclusion likely pertain just as accurately to many other adult behaviors, including antisocial conduct, family violence, and criminality, in general. None of those behaviors qualifies for definition as a disease, despite their recognizable personality predispositions and environmental factors.
Reinarman (2005) points out that differentiating alcoholism and (other) drug addiction from other destructive or antisocial behaviors in order to define only the former as a medical disease is only possible through definitional "elasticity" and "conceptual acrobatics." Perhaps one of… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Should Drug Addiction Be Considered a Disease" Assignment:
THIS IS WHAT THE TEACHER WANTS:
NEED TO HAVE YOUR POSITION CLEARLY STATED IN THE INTRODUCTION OF YOUR PAPER.
THE POSITION STATEMENT SHOULD MOST LIKELY BE THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE INTRODUCTION, ALSO KNOWN AS THE PROPOSITION OR THESIS. YOUR INTRODUCTION NEEDS TO DEFINE THE ISSUES IN QUESTION AND TO PRESENT THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE ISSUE. THE POSITION STATEMENT NEEDS TO PRESENT YOUR STANCE ON THE ISSUE.
HERE IS AN OUTLINE:
1, INTRODUCTION DEFINING THE ISSUES
POSITION STATEMENT ( YOUR STANCE)
2, ALL POINTS OF THE OPPOSITION CLEARLY PRESENTES
3, REFUTATION OF ALL POINTS OF THE OPPOSITION SUPPORTED WITH ADEQUATE FACTS EXAMPLES AND STATISTICS ( CONNECT EVEIDENCE TO YOUR STANCE)
4, CONCLUSION DRIVING HOME TO READER THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR POSITION AND CALLING PERHAPS FOR SOME ACTION.
IN MY POINT OF FEW I AGREE THAT DRUGS ADDICTION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A DISEASE.
PLEASE TRY TO MAKE THIS PAPER AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE THIS PAPER WILL BE HANDED IN THRU TURNITIN. COM TO SEE IF IT WAS PLAGARISE... I WILL EMAIL YOU THE TWO ARTICLES I WANT TO USE IN THIS PAPER AND THE NAME OF THE BOOK IF YOU CANT FIND THE BOOK THEN JUST USE ANY BOOK THAT TALKS ABOUT THE ISSUE MAKE SURE THAT BOOK I CAN FIND IT AT THE LIBRARY THANK YOU.. *****
How to Reference "Should Drug Addiction Be Considered a Disease" Term Paper in a Bibliography
“Should Drug Addiction Be Considered a Disease.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2007, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sociology-drug-addiction-theory/4393. Accessed 6 Jul 2024.
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