Spirituality and Religiousness and Alcohol/Other Drug Problems: Treatment and Recovery Perspectives / Edition 1

by Brent B. Benda, Thomas E. McGovern

Overview

An in-depth look at the relevance of religious and spiritual issues to alcohol and drug use and abuse throughout the lifespan

Spiritual issues and forgiveness are oft-neglected topics in treatment programs for substance abusers. This unique book brings those underrated components of recovery to the forefront through current research, case studies, and the insight of experts in the field of spirituality as well as drug/alcohol treatment. It illustrates the important interrelationship among religiousness, spirituality, forgiveness, and alcohol and drug use and abuse throughout the lifespan. The contributors examine the effects of religiousness and spirituality on recovery in relation to more widely recognized supports. Each chapter is extensively referenced, and most include tables and/or figures that make difficult information easy to understand and work with.

Spirituality and Religiousness and Alcohol/Other Drug Problems: Treatment and Recovery Perspectives draws clear, important distinctions between religiosity and spirituality. It provides you with a clearly laid out conceptual framework for examining the relationship among spirituality/religiousness and alcohol/drug problems, and a theoretical model of forgiveness in regard to alcohol/drug abuse. This informative book also examines:

• the existing literature on the intersection of spirituality/religiousness and alcohol/drug issues
• addiction recovery across the lifespan
• connections among stress, quality of life, social support, spirituality and religiosity, and recovery
• how social supports, spirituality, religiousness, life meaning, and affiliation with 12-step fellowships affect the quality of life for people in recovery
• evidence-based forgiveness treatment
• alcohol abusers’ traits and how abusers function in the context of family
• Christian perspectives on alcohol/drug use and abuse—with a chapter devoted to Protestant perspectives and treatment implications
• predictors of rehospitalization for homeless substance abusers, including spiritual well-being
• various dimensions of religious involvement and mental health outcomes among addicted women
• whether religiousness, as opposed to church attendance, is related to alcohol/drug consumption and delinquency
• the ties between religious variables and mental health in a high-risk population (chemically dependent pregnant or parenting women in a residential treatment program)
• . . . and a great deal more

This book is designed to be immediately useful to practitioners (social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and ministers) who work with substance users and abusers, as well as to academicians and researchers involved with these topics. Please consider adding it to your professional, research, or teaching collection today!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789033239
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/12/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Brent Benda, Richard H. McCuen

Table of Contents

Themes and Patterns of Spirituality Religiousness and Alcohol/Other Drug Problems: Treatment and Recovery Perspectives (Thomas F. McGovern and Brent B. Benda) Spirituality and Religiousness and Alcohol/Other Drug Problems: Conceptual Framework (Thomas F. McGovern and Terry McMahon) Protestantism and Alcoholism: Spiritual and Religious Considerations (John R. Belcher) The Role of Social Supports, Spirituality, Religiousness, Life Meaning and Affiliation with 12-Step Fellowships in Quality of Life Satisfaction Among Individuals in Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Problems (Alexandre B. Laudet, Keith Morgen, and William L. White) Church Attendance or Religiousness: Their Relationship to Adolescents’ Use of Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Delinquency (Brent B. Benda, Sandra K. Pope, and Kelly J. Kelleher) Dimensions of Religious Involvement and Mental Health Outcomes Among Alcohol- and Drug-Dependent Women (Nicola A. Conners, Leanne Whiteside-Mansell, and Allen C. Sherman) Spiritual Well Being, Relationships, Work Satisfaction in the Treatment of Homeless Veterans with Alcohol/Other Drug Problems (Brent B. Benda, Frederick A. DiBlasio, and Sandra K. Pope) Forgiveness in the Treatment of Persons with Alcohol Problems (Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Michael Scherer, and Kathryn L. Cooke) Alcohol and Other Drug Problems Among Homeless Veterans: A Life-Course Theory of Forgiveness (Brent B. Benda and John R. Belcher) Alcohol Abuse in Marriage and Family Contexts: Relational Pathways to Recovery (Jennifer S. Ripley, April Cunion, and Nicole Noble) Recovery Across the Life Cycle from Alcohol/Other Drug Problems: Pathways, Styles, Developmental Stages (William L. White) Index Reference Notes Included

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Patricia E. Murphy, PhD (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This is a collection of articles published in an issue of Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly in 2006 that focused on religion and spirituality.
Purpose: The goal of the journal is to provide information about treatment that takes into account both theory and research. Although there are articles on the topic of spirituality in recovery in a variety of journals, this collection provides practical and concise material in a single place.
Audience: Each chapter is clear and compact, making it accessible to the range of readers for whom it is intended — physicians to clergy. Because spirituality has been part of dependency treatment for many years, the topic is likely to be of interest.
Features: Early chapters provide background on the history and research on the role of religion/spirituality in treatment and addiction. Chapters providing quantitative research on the topic investigate associations of spirituality/religion with factors related to substance abuse in diverse populations. Data analysis is described well, keeping in mind the target reader who may not be well versed in statistics. Each study highlights clinical implications. A particularly laudable aspect is the inclusion of a chapter describing a protocol for forgiveness, followed by a chapter studying the role of forgiveness on outcomes related to substance abuse. The book does not offer reports of longitudinal studies or trials of interventions. This could be a next step. It does expose the reader to references to some of the foremost authors in the field of religion and mental health.
Assessment: This book would be a useful addition to the library of those involved in working with persons with addiction. Because it is both interesting and quite readable, it would not stay on the shelf, but would be put to good use. It is this kind of book that is likely to lead busy practitioners to explore research in their field.

Doody's Review Service