Addiction is a term used in everyday life to describe a range of experiences associated commonly with loss of control. When addictions do develop, they can cause harm to the person, their family/whānau, and the wider community. However, the use of alcohol and other drugs - as well as certain behaviours, like gambling - can cause harm also in the absence of addiction.
This course invites students to explore and discuss these potentially addictive consumptions. This includes consumptions traditionally associated with addiction (alcohol and other drugs) as well as new behavioural addictions (e.g., gambling). Students are also invited to use a harm reduction approach and culturally safe frameworks.
This undergraduate-level course offers students an entry point to thinking about how theory can be used to understand, explain, and approach addictions. There will also be an opportunity for students to critique contemporary models of addiction, such as the disease model, from a community or cultural perspective.
The course explores these models of addiction through three modules: individual models, public health models, and community models. The course is delivered through lectures and tutorials, complemented with suggested readings and other resources.
This course is relevant to anyone pursuing a career in mental health and addiction practice or research, and it is part of the Addiction and Mental Health pathway within the BHSc. It also provides a good background to further alcohol and drug/ mental health studies at Honours or other postgraduate studies at the School of Population Health.