Clinical Sociology Review

Article Title

Using Sociology to End Chemical Dependency

Authors

J. Barry Gurdin, To Love and to Work: An Agency for Change

Abstract

Drawing on participant observations and interventions while counseling 160 heroin addicts over a two-year period, the author explores the possibilities and limitations of using sociology to counter his clients' addictions to heroin and other drugs. Important historical changes have brought about new conflicting viewpoints within the methadone maintenance clinic, where acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatments are now available alongside Western medicine Although sociologists have written harsh accounts of "getting the treatment," they have tended to support methadone maintenance, which has been demonstrated to stem crime and HIV, among other socially beneficial ends. Clinical sociologists can resocialize addicts to mentally-healthful social solidarities, demystify the socially destructive effects of drugs, and criticize ineffective, dehumanizing treatment techniques and ideologies

Recommended Citation

Gurdin, J. Barry (1992) "Using Sociology to End Chemical Dependency," Clinical Sociology Review: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/csr/vol10/iss1/10