Addict with a Capital A: On Constructing a Disability Model of Addiction
Jackson McNeece, Baylor University, Waco, TX
The classification of addiction as a "chronic medical disease," as defined by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM),[1] often constrains how people understand addiction, framing it primarily as a biological dysfunction. This designation limits individuals struggling with addiction to viewing themselves through a lens of pathology, which is insufficient for understanding the complexity of their experience. Though Robert Wood, in his 2001 article in Addiction identifies 137 models of addiction classification,[2] none consider addiction within the framework of disability, despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) definition indicating that addiction could qualify as such.[3] The following paper argues that reconceptualizing addiction within a disability framework offers those afflicted a more nuanced vocabulary and allows for a more comprehensive understanding of addiction as part of the human condition. Thus, theologically, reframing addiction through what could be termed a psalmic disposition.
This paper will begin by examining the ASAM’s language used to define the term addiction, and then place ASAM’s definition in conversation with the ADA’s definition of disability. Doing so will ultimately suggest that addiction, when viewed as a disability, opens new pathways for understanding and support, distinguishing it from the pathology-centered view in the disease model.
The result of this synthesis is both practical and theological. Practically, three benefits are derived when addiction is viewed through a disability model: the advantage of increased support, language expansion and the development of Addict as a claimed identity, and substantive legitimation of effects. Theologically, the language structure built through the reframing of addiction as disability introduces a more robust and encompassing account of what it means to be human within the eyes of God. By employing Water Brueggemann’s account of the spirituality of the psalms, as articulated in the book with the same title,[4] this paper will expand on what it means to consider addiction as disability to be a psalmic orientation.
The necessity of framing addiction within a disability model is supported by two reasons. First, both theological and practical perspectives contribute to an inclusive, dignified, and expansive approach to the human experience. Such reconceptualization allows those with addiction to potentially better see themselves as created and endowed with a full sense of dignity that transcends the pathology-focused language of the disease model. Second, this paper contends that it is, in part, the theological task of the physician and theologian to assist in the process of properly identification of each aspect that constitutes a person so that, ultimately, each person can possess the best language possible to understand how they are beloved and a child of God. Conclusively, this paper argues that this reframing invites physicians, theologians, and communities alike to support individuals with addiction holistically, honoring their humanity and providing a vocabulary that enables their growth and participation in a caring society that is equipped to allow all persons regardless of illness or affliction to flourish together.
[1] American Society of Addiction Medicine, "Definition of Addiction," accessed October 17, 2024, https://www.asam.org/quality-care/definition-of-addiction.
[2] Robert West, “Theories of Addiction,” 2001.
[3] Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
[4] Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002), xii.
This paper will begin by examining the ASAM’s language used to define the term addiction, and then place ASAM’s definition in conversation with the ADA’s definition of disability. Doing so will ultimately suggest that addiction, when viewed as a disability, opens new pathways for understanding and support, distinguishing it from the pathology-centered view in the disease model.
The result of this synthesis is both practical and theological. Practically, three benefits are derived when addiction is viewed through a disability model: the advantage of increased support, language expansion and the development of Addict as a claimed identity, and substantive legitimation of effects. Theologically, the language structure built through the reframing of addiction as disability introduces a more robust and encompassing account of what it means to be human within the eyes of God. By employing Water Brueggemann’s account of the spirituality of the psalms, as articulated in the book with the same title,[4] this paper will expand on what it means to consider addiction as disability to be a psalmic orientation.
The necessity of framing addiction within a disability model is supported by two reasons. First, both theological and practical perspectives contribute to an inclusive, dignified, and expansive approach to the human experience. Such reconceptualization allows those with addiction to potentially better see themselves as created and endowed with a full sense of dignity that transcends the pathology-focused language of the disease model. Second, this paper contends that it is, in part, the theological task of the physician and theologian to assist in the process of properly identification of each aspect that constitutes a person so that, ultimately, each person can possess the best language possible to understand how they are beloved and a child of God. Conclusively, this paper argues that this reframing invites physicians, theologians, and communities alike to support individuals with addiction holistically, honoring their humanity and providing a vocabulary that enables their growth and participation in a caring society that is equipped to allow all persons regardless of illness or affliction to flourish together.
[1] American Society of Addiction Medicine, "Definition of Addiction," accessed October 17, 2024, https://www.asam.org/quality-care/definition-of-addiction.
[2] Robert West, “Theories of Addiction,” 2001.
[3] Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
[4] Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002), xii.