Week: Is addiction always a bad thing?

Week: Is addiction always a bad thing?

Addictions come in many forms and almost always involve a complex three-way interaction between the person, the object of the addiction (e.g., drugs, gambling, chocolate), and the societal context of the addiction.

This complex interaction raises a controversial social question: Is addiction always a bad thing? Although there is often a significant amount of social stigma attached to addictions, and popular media often focuses on the treatment and prevention of addiction, there may also be associated positive qualities of addictive substances and behaviors.

For your initial post, the class will be split into two groups. Please see below for your assigned topic group.

Last name begins with:

A through L: Initial post will be written on a specific substance that has addictive potential (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, ibogaine, marijuana, ayahuasca, MDMA) of your choice.

Begin your initial post by choosing either a substance or a behavior with addictive potential based on your assigned group. To create a meaningful and interesting discussion, it would behoove you to choose a substance or behavior that has not already been addressed in the discussion board. For this discussion, you must explain both the positive and negative potential of addiction to your chosen substance or behavior. Therefore, you must choose a substance or behavior that presents both positive and negative potential outcomes.

Research your substance or behavior providing at least two peer-reviewed resources to support any claims made.

In your post, construct clear and concise arguments using evidence-based psychological concepts and theories to create a brief scenario or example of a situation in which your chosen addiction provides both positive and negative potential outcomes for a subject. Integrate concepts developed from different content domains to support your arguments.

Evaluate and comment on the reliability and generalization of the specific articles and research findings you have chosen to support your arguments.

Explain how the APA’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct might be used to guide your decisions as a psychology professional if you were assigned to consult with the subject in the situation you have created

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.