Drug Addiction

Term Paper # 104464

Medical and Health > Drugs
Psychology > Alcohol and Drugs
Psychology > Theory

Drug Addiction

Looks at theories of drug addiction, particularly crack cocaine addiction.

1,560 words () | 9 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explores biological and learning theories to gain an understanding of addiction especially crack cocaine addiction. The author investigates biological models, which refer to the genetics of behavior and neurons and hormones that make some people much more prone than others to crack cocaine addiction. The paper also discusses learning theories, which focus on how persons learn to think and behave in particular ways. The paper further relates that these learning theories consider environmental, ritualized conditioning that depends upon a group or social framework, which can make an individual more susceptible to addiction. The paper concludes that it is important to see a phenomenon from more than one theoretical position.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biological Theories and Drug Addiction
Learning Perspectives
Discussion
Concluding Note

From the Paper:

"In some patients of the kind, where the brain's dopamine levels are lower than average, or dopamine is very sensitive to fluctuation, the person sometimes trying to raise his or her spirits by way of alcohol, most often, or marijuana or the cocaine that often proves very dangerous. Crack cocaine immediately affects the brain's dopamine processes so that the user soon feels extremely produced, longing for a new dose of the drug that is known to produce a feeling or normality and in some, euphoria."

Sample of Sources Used:

Allen, C. (2005). The Links between heroin, crack cocaine and crime - where does street crime fit in? British Journal of Criminology. 45: 355-372.
Bordnick, P., R. Elkins et al. (2004). Evaluating the Relative Effectiveness of Three Aversion Therapies Designed to Reduce Craving among Crack Cocaine Abusers. Behavioral Interventions. 19: 1-24.
Brands, J. (2000). The Expansion of Methadone Prescribing in Ontario. Addictions Research. 8: 485-496.
Falck, R.S. and J. Wang et al. (2004). The Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorder among a community sample of crack cocaine abusers, an exploratory study with practice implications. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorder. 192: 503-507.
Gilchrist, G. (2005). Crack and cocaine use among female prostitutes in Glasgow - risky business. Drugs - Education, Prevention and Policy. 12: 281-291.