Drugs and Alcohol

SWK

307

Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and alcohol from a social work perspective. This course focuses on the social reality of drug use, and drug users, within contemporary society and includes a historical analysis of the social construction of drug use, drug users, abuse, and addiction. Students will investigate complex relationships among individual behavior, group behavior, and social structure. Central concepts such as social learning, labeling, power, and inequality, as well as socio-cultural definitions of drugs, behavior, and the people who use drugs, will be the tools of analysis. Special attention will be given to the complex legal history surrounding drug use, the link between drugs and crime, the impact of the medicalization of human behavior, and varying perspectives on "doing something about drugs".

Fall, Spring

Undergraduate

No

016952