Opiate Abuse and Dependence Disorders

Issues in personality conceptualizations of addictive behaviors.

“…It is also questionable whether alcoholics and drug addicts are viewed to have homogeneous person characteristics in the sense usually presented in critical discussions of the addiction-prone hypothesis. In fact, Sutker and Archer (1984) described tendencies dating to the early 1900s to classify addicts into at least two subtypes: those seeking self-medication and those pursuing pleasurable sensations. Few writers have claimed that all addicts are endowed with a common tragic flaw or the same constellation of weak- Nathan and Niaura (1985) acknowledged the sometimes myopic focus of early behavioral addiction research.…”

“…He cited work using the MMPI, other psychological tests such as the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1975) and the Adjective Check List (ACL; Gough & Heilbrun, 1980), and measures of psychological traits such as locus of control, field dependence, introversion-extroversion, sensation seeking, and anhedonia. Sutker and Archer (1984) also provided a comprehensive overview of multidisciplinary studies that used a variety of experimental methodologies to characterize addict groups, to compare them with various selected control groups, and to examine person correlates of identified addictive behaviors.…”

“…Discussions linking personality traits and addictive behaviors are commonplace in the psychosocial literature. Many of the issues, arguments, and conclusions offered on the topic of addiction proneness have been summarized by Collins and Marlatt (1983), Owen and Butcher (1979), and Platt and Labate (1976) Sutker and Archer (1984) presented arguments relevant to the addictive-personality hypothesis within a conceptual context that assumed an interactive, multivariate model for the etiology, progression, and consequences of drug abuse and dependence. These researchers cited three points of consensus in describing the relation between personality variables and drug-use behaviors.…”

“…Morey and Blashfield (1981) also reported two consistent subtypes labeled dependent and neurotic. To some extent, psychopathic or antisocial features have emerged as characteristic across subtypes but have been more prevalent among drug-abusers than alcoholics (Sutker & Archer, 1984). Although this research area is marked by conceptual and methodological advances, there is a need to expand studies to neglected but theoretically important population subgroups, such as adolescents, elderly individuals, women, and nontreatment or noncriminal persons as well as to mixed groups of alcohol- and drug-using subjects and their nonusing counterparts.…”

Medicalizing the drug war

“…Nevertheless, a majority of opiate addicts have been characterized as antisocial and are reported to commit a disproportionate amount of crime (Finestone, 1967;Greenberg & Adler, 1974;Inciardi & Chambers, 1972;Kozel, Dupont & Brown, 1972;Julien, 1981). Although the social environment plays a substantial role in this association, several studies have shown that opiate users are more prone to criminal behavior before initiation into drug use (Craig, 1988;Sutker & Archer, 1984) and, thus, their drug-taking behavior is only one form of criminal activity that entices them.…”