Addiction: A Reference Encyclopedia

(Hardback)

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Description

A reference guide that answers the questions people have about addiction and addictive behaviors of all kinds, including drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, Internet usage, and more. Addiction: A Reference Encyclopedia offers straight talk and clear answers on a topic often sensationalized in the media and politicized during campaigns. Drawing from a wide variety of sources, it provides readers with a concise yet thorough review of what we know about all kinds of addictive behavior. Addiction surveys both the science of addiction and its history in the United States with two main sections: a narrative of the history of addiction as a scientific and public policy issue in the United States followed by a series of alphabetically organized entries focused on organizations, individuals, and events that have impacted our thinking about addiction. Much of the work focuses on substance abusealcohol, tobacco, opiates, cocainebut the book also examines behaviors that have only recently been recognized as potentially addictive, including gambling, sexual activity, Internet usage, and more.

Reviews

This intelligently written, accesible volume focuses on addiction and its history. * School Library Journal *
Appropriate for libraries where addictions are studied and where there is an emphasis on the use of primary sources. * Booklist *
Aimed at a general audience, this handy yet comprehensive reference by Padwa (independent scholar) and Cunningham (history, Hebrew Union College) is divided into three major sections.In this new work the lucid language makes even legal entries easy to comprehend, thereby assisting those addicts who are looking to help themselves as well as those supporters helping friends or relatives overcome their addiction problems. Overall, this book achieves what it sets out to, serving as a handy, go-to reference work. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. * Choice *
recommended for purchase by public and academic libraries. * Catholic Library World *

Author Bio

Howard Padwa, PhD, works as a researcher in Los Angeles. Jacob Cunningham, MA, teaches history at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, CA.