SOCI 398 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dopamine Receptor D2, Dopamine Receptor, Reward System
18 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Early medical models focused on alcohol and opiate use. Individual subjectivity, environmental factors and object characteristics exist inside sociocultural dimensions. Medical models of addiction focus on controlling drug supply and the punishment of offenders. Medical models are built on culturally specific ideals of self-control and autonomy. They are tired to normative judgements about how to live and how to prioritize pleasure. Unlike the scientific model, the brain disease model offers causal explanations rather than lists of symptoms. It cannot determine who is or is not an addict. It offers a neurochemical and molecular account of the underlying process that produces disordered behavior. Like the dsm, there is an attempt to produce a generic and generalizable model that can be applied to any substance. This generalising approach enables the formation of a coherent addictive disorder that incorporates psychological and social elements and exist beyond the consequences of drinking, smoking and using opiates.
