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Most “addictive behaviour” (craving, anti-social acts, loss of
responsibility (i.e. failure to maintain expected roles)), is more complex than a
“self-medication” explanation of addiction allows. For instance, most people who
become classical pictures of drug addicts have pre-existing social difficulties and often
personality characteristics which seem to make them vulnerable to adopting deviant roles
(see lectures on social deviance for more on this aspect). Much of the “craving” for
drugs has been shown to occur when the drug-taking setting and accoutrements are present,
indicating a conditioned expectation of the pharmacological activity (the “high”)
related to the physical environment. |