Addiction Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Addiction - Term Paper Example They had higher forms of engagement behaviorally as well, when they were more involved. Generally, when one is talking about addiction it refers to a limited set of specifics that define the addiction, but the idea of the addictive personality is to see who may be predisposed to be addicted to various activities. Katz points out how addiction is also increasingly accepted and tolerated in society so that many activities and things which may have not been considered addictive in the past, such as food, exercise, work, and relationships, are now also accepted increasingly as valid addictions. Many experts according to Katz try to narrow down the definition of an addictive personality, therefore, by dividing addictive behavior into five conceptual categories: patterns, habits, compulsions, impulse control disorders, and physical addictions (the person cannot live without it) (2005). Katz’s article provides a general look at addiction, without going too much into specifics. Benshoff’s article deals less generally with the topic of addiction than Katz, and focuses on the population of elderly addicts. The elderly form social bonds that are based on their attachment to society from a psychological perspective as well as a perspective of natural social processes in which becoming alienated from other people and human society is seen to encourage self defeating behavior such as substance abuse. Benshoff shows how these social bonds are formed early in individuals and can be applied to lifespan processes including the elderly who are involved in bonds with society that require various levels, or respective lacks of, attachment to, commitment to, involvement in, and belief in societal codes or normative influences. As the author points out, in the case of the elderly, this direction mainly operates in terms of the present’s balance with the future: deviant behavior such as drug abuse violates the