Expanding Addiction: Critical Essays

The study of addiction is dominated by a narrow disease ideology that leads to biological reductionism. In this short volume, editors Granfield and Reinarman make clear the importance of a more balanced contextual approach to addiction by bringing to light critical perspectives that expose the historical and cultural interstices in which the disease concept of addiction is constructed and deployed. The readings selected for this anthology include both classic foundational pieces and cutting-edge contemporary works that constitute critical addiction studies. This book is a welcome addition to drugs or addiction courses in sociology, criminal justice, mental health, clinical psychology, social work, and counseling.

Robert Granfield is Professor of Sociology and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the University at Buffalo (UB). He is also an associate research scientist at the Research Institute on the Addictions at UB. Dr. Granfield is the author of Making Elite Lawyers: Visions of Law at Harvard and Beyond and co-author of Coming Clean: Overcoming Addiction without Treatment; Recovery From Addiction: A Practical Guide to Treatment Self-Help and Quitting on your Own, and Private Lawyers in the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession. He has also published numerous articles on law, drug use, and addiction.

Craig Reinarman is Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Alcohol Research Group at UC Berkeley, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam, and a principal investigator on research grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. He is the author of American States of Mind and co-author of Cocaine Changes and Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice. He has published widely on drug use, addiction, law, treatment, and policy.