PSYC 3403 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Genetic Predisposition, Hypermetabolism, Sick Role

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3403
• Professor: John Weekes

Document Summary

There are four dominant perspectives when studying addiction psychology. Moral, biological, sociological and cognitive, social psychological model. Beliefs or judgments about; right and wrong and what is acceptable/unacceptable. Implies that drug users are bad/sinful people. Something morally wrong with users (people who use drugs have something wrong with them. Substance abuse is a crime that needs to be punished. Biological/physiologically-based abnormality that causes them to become addicted. Rate of metabolism (some can hold alcohol/drugs better than others) Has heavily influenced us drug policy (1980"s: Something physically wrong with the government evoked legislation changing the rate at which people were convicted of drug related crimes (more rigid on drug crimes). Net effect of this was that in later year, us prison rates were through the roof! person (opposite of moral model: there"s nothing morally wrong with the person, they are just sick) Some evidence of an inherited predisposition (person could become more easily (and quickly) addicted than others.