Faculty of Arts School of Humanities 9709128f enzo@hixnet.co.za / This research report undertook an original exploration into the workings of addiction. The theoretical insights of discursive psychology were applied to the study of opiate addiction and were used to analyse the manner in which using and non-using informants were able to constitute addiction through discourse. By comparing the discursive accounts of self-defined recovered, recovering and currently addicted users, the report highlighted how ways of speaking about substances and their use may be implicated in the maintenance and cessation of addiction. The transcripts of four focus groups, consisting of a total number of 15 informants, were qualitatively analysed using a thematic method that focused on the informants’ strategic use of discourse. The analysis revealed important differences between using and non-using informants in terms of the self employed discursive practices that they used in constructing their experience of addiction. Differences included variations in the attribution of agency to either the opiate or the informant and the degree to which opiate use was presented as cause for concern or not. These and other differences were explored in detail together with their potential implications, functions and apparent effects on the users’ capacity to maintain abstinence as opposed to continuing to use.

<p>For many individuals gambling gives an opportunity for relaxation and social relations. The positive effects of gambling are for most individual’s considerable more than the negative effects. Even if gambling gives positive effects there is individuals that cannot control there gambling and therefore develop an addiction which disturb there life situation and health. The aim of this study was to describe which personal characteristics distinguish people with a pathological gambling and which psychological, physical and social consequences this pathological gambling causes for the individual. The method of the study was a literary study and was based on twenty scientific articles. These articles were found in different scientific databases. The result of the study indicated that pathological gamblers have a higher grade of impulsivity and therefore they are seeking for quick satisfaction. The characteristic of pathological gamblers causes psychological, physiological and social consequences. Pathological gamblers have a increased risk of economical problems, work loses, anxiety, fear and depression. The consequences of pathological gambling does not only affect the individual with the addiction but also people in the person’s environment; therefore it is important that the society receive increased knowledge about pathological gambling. Further research about which individual’s that have an increased risk of become pathological gamblers, research about the increased accessibility to gamble and the mass medium effect on the individual is a desire.</p>

For many individuals gambling gives an opportunity for relaxation and social relations. The positive effects of gambling are for most individual’s considerable more than the negative effects. Even if gambling gives positive effects there is individuals that cannot control there gambling and therefore develop an addiction which disturb there life situation and health. The aim of this study was to describe which personal characteristics distinguish people with a pathological gambling and which psychological, physical and social consequences this pathological gambling causes for the individual. The method of the study was a literary study and was based on twenty scientific articles. These articles were found in different scientific databases. The result of the study indicated that pathological gamblers have a higher grade of impulsivity and therefore they are seeking for quick satisfaction. The characteristic of pathological gamblers causes psychological, physiological and social consequences. Pathological gamblers have a increased risk of economical problems, work loses, anxiety, fear and depression. The consequences of pathological gambling does not only affect the individual with the addiction but also people in the person’s environment; therefore it is important that the society receive increased knowledge about pathological gambling. Further research about which individual’s that have an increased risk of become pathological gamblers, research about the increased accessibility to gamble and the mass medium effect on the individual is a desire.

Since the Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist eras, men’s intoxication has been deemed ‘masculine’ and women’s sobriety ‘feminine’ in western Ukraine; however, these ideologies are being rewritten to fit the new, post-socialist environment and to underscore a divergence from the Soviet past. While men are judged based on their ability to function after imbibing copious amounts of alcohol, women are explicitly expected to embody two stereotypes: the ‘Berehynia’ (a recently reformulated goddess of family and nation) and the ‘Barbie’ (a more globally-informed image). Digression from the ‘Barbie’ model is used as evidence to render public diagnoses of addiction, while the ‘Berehynia’ model underscores the sentiment that “we are not allowed to be weak.” Women are expected to be stronger than men; indeed, women are widely regarded as the carriers of morality. While men’s addiction is often met with sympathy – and linked to a presumed, inherent inability to cope with social, political and economic upheaval – addicted women are deemed to have consciously abandoned their femininity, their families, and their nation. These ideologies deeply affect the experiences of addicted people. In particular, women’s addiction is severely stigmatized, and they are extremely reluctant to “confess” and seek treatment. Based upon 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork, this thesis explores the gendered conceptualizations of ‘moral’ and ‘immoral’ that are being formulated with respect to drinking and addiction, and how these concepts inform the variety of addiction treatments that are available. In so doing, this analysis illuminates what is at stake for both the stigmatizers and stigmatized, and more specifically, the multiple ways that gender, drinking, and addiction have become implicated in constructions of the Ukrainian nation and state.

Issues related to substance use/abuse and mental health are significant public health concerns. Substance abuse is considered an individual and community mental health problem. The relationship between substance use and positive mental well-being, however, is less well understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the mental well-being of a sample of occasional, recreational drug users. Drugnet was an on-line survey of recreational drug use by non-deviant adults via the WWW. Volunteer subjects completed the survey over the internet between March and September 1997. Mental health was assessed utilizing the General Well-being Schedule (GWBS). A complete demographic profile of the sample was taken. The GWBS scores of the sample were similar to the national norms of American adults. GWBS scores were correlated with frequency of use, intoxication levels and types of drugs consumed. In this study, I demonstrate and profile the existence of healthy, normally functioning adults who occasionally use, not abuse, psychoactive drugs.

The myths and misconceptions that surround cocaine use lead to the over-estimation of the prevalence of cocaine addiction in society. Health education curricula and drug policy do not differentiate between cocaine use and abuse. This study describes the cocaine consumption patterns in a nonclinical, non-incarcerated sample of cocaine users. The resulting patterns are compared to those found by Cohen (1989) and Cohen and Sas (1993, 1994, 1995). DRUGNET is an online survey of recreational drug use by nondeviant adults via the WWW. Self-selected subjects completed a survey over the Internet between February and October 1997 (N= 701). This sample was predominantly white (92%), male (85.3%), young (mean = 34.13 years, SD = 9.40, Range = 18 to 71), employed full-time (72.6%), and earned a median income of $50,000-69,999 (21.2%). The most prevalent pattern observed was a period of moderate consumption followed by declining use (52.7%). The second most common pattern observed was a period of increased consumption followed by steady decline to a lower stable level (25.5%). The most prevalent pattern of consumption found in this study and those reported by Cohen and Sas is that the most prevalent patterns all showed an eventual decline in consumption over time. Further, DRUGNET respondents exhibited similar patterns of use as those described by Cohen and Sas. The study's demonstration that cocaine use does not inevitably lead to increased use and probability of addiction raises serious questions about current policy and the content of most drug intervention models (i.e., DARE, court ordered treatment, etc.).

Drug abuse can be a serious, chronic, and relapsing health problem for both men and women. Among women, however, drug use and abuse present an array of different challenges to health and well-being. In addition, the health of women has been given less attention than the health of men. Little research has been conducted to identify and describe the invisible or hidden population of drug users, not abusers, who are not in treatment or incarcerated on drugrelated charges. The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive and behavioral profile of adult, female, recreational drug users (i.e., not abusers). The instrument utilized for data collection and analysis was the on-line DRUGNET survey. Data was collected from volunteer, female subjects who completed the survey during 1997 and 1998 and who considered themselves to be "healthy, successful adults who occasionally use drugs." Mental health was assessed utilizing the General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS). Findings of this study support suggest that the overall health, happiness, and well-being of female, adult, recreational drug users does not appear to differ from the overall health, happiness, and well-being of the general, female, adult population.

America is a drug-oriented society. For many years people have used drugs for recreational purposes. However, there has been ongoing controversy regarding drug abuse and drug use. The purpose of this study was to assess attitudes and beliefs of successful adult drug users as it relates to drug reform, effectiveness of current drug laws, and problem experiences that they may have encountered as a result of their drug use. A qualitative study utilizing three open-ended questions regarding the aforementioned areas was conducted to analyze the 156 individuals' responses. The respondents were found to be in agreement on the ineffectiveness of current drug laws and for reform of these laws. Thirty-eight (62.3%) respondents also were in favor of marijuana, specifically, being legalized. Lawmakers should give careful consideration of reform of drug laws, especially as it relates to proper education about drugs and drug use as well as refining the rehabilitation programs and sanctioning of drug abusers. They should also consider the evidence that drug use does not always lead to drug abuse and that some recreational drug users can live normal, happy and successful lives in spite of their drug use. Future research should explore in greater detail and with larger samples adult drug users' attitudes, beliefs and behavior stemming from their use.

Humans have been using plant-derived drugs for as long as we have recorded history. Significant negative consequences related to drug abuse have occurred in the areas of health, social issues, family relations, legal systems, and economic productivity. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between meaning in life and drug abuse. An epidemiological, retrospective study was performed to compare personal meaning in life between individuals receiving inpatient treatment for drug abuse and a group of non-drug abusing controls. Study participants completed the Purpose-In-Life Test and Life Attitude Profile-Revised. On both instruments, the inpatient drug abusing subjects were found to have significantly different levels of meaning in life. Drug treatment and primary prevention programs should consider incorporating meaning in life considerations in their strategies. Future research should explore an expanded sample size of drug abusing participants exploring in greater detail life's subjective meaning.

There were several purposes of this study. The first objective was to examine the correlation between exercise dependence and personality factors in triathletes and regular exercisers. The second purpose of the study was to identify the relationship between exercise dependence and athletic identity in triathletes. The final purpose of the study was to identify a difference in exercise dependence between triathletes and regular exercisers. The study included 122 triathletes and 129 regular athletes that exercised at least 30 minutes per bout at least five times a week and have been doing so for at least the prior three months. All of the participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS) and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). The triathletes additionally completed the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS). Past research has attempted to identify personality traits that correlate with exercise dependence. However, an apparent universal personality trait has not been established for any group of athletes with exercise dependence. The current study was able to identify a significant correlation (p < .05) between the personality trait, Neuroticism, and exercise dependence in both triathletes and regular exercisers. Additionally, a significant relationship (p < .05) between exercise dependence and athletic identity was identified in the triathletes. Findings also indicated a significant difference between triathletes and regular exercisers for exercise dependence. Triathletes displayed significantly more exercise dependent symptomology than regular exercisers. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science