Potential Questions
1)
In Canada and around the world each year, addiction takes the lives of many people and destroys families
alike. Not to mention burdening tax payers with treatment, court, and other miscellaneous costs. Thus, if
addiction has been around for millennia and appears to be a losing battle with new addictions and behaviors
popping up every decade, should society bear the weight of these costs when no one forces an individual to
embark on a career of addiction? Your answer should be defendable in the sense that you create an
argument that is well thought out, incorporates course content, and is coherent from beginning to end.
2) Create a personal definition for addiction and elucidate its components (levels, does it include both physical
and psychological components, etc). The definition must be applicable to persons suffering from addiction
and include some course content. Secondly, discuss the importance of defining addiction – why do we define
addiction, who is it for, etc?
3) In your opinion make an argument for or against the usefulness of the medical model and the 12-step
philosophy in terms of understanding and treating addiction. Your answer should be defendable in the sense
that you create an argument that is well thought out, incorporates course content, and is coherent from
beginning to end.
4) Stanton Peele is well known figure in the addictions field. He had published numerous books and scholarly
peer reviewed articles and has helped a great deal of people recover from their addictive behaviors. With that
said, people tend to either love or hate him, thus for those who gravitate toward his philosophy and see merit in
his perspective on addiction, discuss and elucidate the value that this approach to treating addiction might have
for someone who has been recently told they have a “disease”.
5) In the quote by Shakespeare, “Some to dance, some to make bonfires, each man to what sport and revels his
addiction leads him” hints to the idea that addiction can be thought to originate in an experience that one
attaches him or herself to. In your owns words and utilizing course content discuss how addiction is related to
this quote and the significance whereby humans appear to be compelled by repetitious urges to become
energized, to relax, and to imagine.
6) In your readings with respect to the Dharma Punk, Noah Levine’s memoir appears to epitomize White’s (1990,
1996) theory on “The Culture of Addiction”. Hence, discuss and describe how Noah Levine’s memoir
highlights and brings to life concepts presented in the “Culture of Addiction”, along with concepts presented
during this lecture.
7) The self-medication theory suggests that persons use substances and or engage in addictive pursuits as a means
to “push aside suffering”. What does this mean? Describe the theory’s contents/ components – and in your
opinion what merit does this theory have? Your answer should be defendable in the sense that you create
an argument that is well thought out, incorporates course content, and is coherent from beginning to end.
8) It appears that there is a strong correlation and link between addiction and trauma, in your opinion why might
this be so? Moreover, describe the key elements (discussed in lecture and readings) involved in recovering
from a traumatic illness and addiction, while also offering your own personal insights that might be integral
toward recovering from experiencing a traumatic event(s).