Theoretical Models and Approaches

Theoretical Models and Approaches Assignment
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Theoretical Models and Approaches Assignment
The Moral Model
The moral model is among the significant models of addiction. Most importantly, this model is primarily focused on explaining judgments or beliefs of whatever should be right or wrong. The model fails to accept that addiction can arise due to biological reasons. Instead, the proponents believe that drug users who can hardly do without drugs are morally wrong. They associate people experiencing addiction with irresponsibility, impulsiveness, and carelessness. The individuals have a weak character that, in most cases, drives them to engage in drug abuse (Rise & Halkjelsvik, 2019). Again, the moral model argues that addiction is an outcome of personal decisions implying that addiction victims can make ‘good’ choices if they wish. One of the interventions for addiction victims to change their behaviors could be following and upholding strong religious principles. The model describing addiction’s etiology concentrates on the sinfulness integral to human nature (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020).
An example illustrating the moral model could be viewed from the perspective of an individual addicted to drugs. Specifically, the model would consider this person lacking the self-discipline to avoid addiction. Either, the addiction could result from the person’s irresolute moral character. Such factors explained above would contribute to addiction. However, according to the moral model, a biological-related condition could not be a trigger. Instead, the moral model would insist that the addiction is due to the drug user’s accountability, and overcoming it would require the individuals to use self-control or willpower. Regarding the example, proponents acknowledge that the addict only needs to decide to quit the behavior and might fail because they lack the adequate willpower to do so.
The moral model explains addiction. However, present-day scholars have largely discredited the model claiming it is irrelevant and lacking substantial empirically based and researched claims (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). For instance, the moral model views addicts as morally weak and irresponsible about their behaviors. It places the addiction blame mainly on the addict instead of considering other factors' roles. Studies indicated that addiction is complex because it incorporates social, biological, mental, and psychological factors and not only lacking one’s morals.
Cognitive Behavioral Model
The cognitive-behavioral model is also suitable for explaining addiction among human beings. This model of addiction relates to behavioral and cognitive reinforcers and motivations. For instance, individuals facing addiction are likely to repeat activities that they derive pleasure through the positive reinforcement process. Most addiction cases occur due to experiences like mood changes, evasion from boredom, increasing creativity, and self-exploration. According to this model of addiction, the urge to feel pleasure is the biggest explanation or factor that encourages addiction. It explains the cognitive-behavioral model. Above all, the model perceives addiction as a learned activity highly triggered by beliefs, thoughts, and feelings. The proponents also believe that addicted individuals can get rid of a certain action through different behavior-change mechanisms (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020).
An example illustrating the cognitive behavioral model could be viewed from the perspective of an individual addicted to caffeine. According to this model of addiction, the person may have realized with time that taking caffeine connects to enhanced wakefulness, alertness, stress-free mood, and overall energized moments. Therefore, whenever such a person feels less alert and sleepy, they might habitually take coffee or any caffeine-based drink to cope with the situation. Such beliefs and feelings about caffeine might be challenging and hard to ignore.
The Cognitive Behavioral Model (CBM) provides an exceptional explanation of addiction. First and foremost, CBM is an extensively utilized approach to inform and treat addiction. Most importantly, the model explains that beliefs and thoughts are crucial in determining an addict’s substance usage behavior (Nakao et al., 2021). According to the theory, undesirable thoughts may lead one to feel depressed or develop anxiety that would motivate the person to engage in addiction to deal with the undesirable situation. Secondly, the cognitive behavioral model has greatly informed the effective treatment of addiction-induced disorders. Some therapies based on the efficient model have included instructing persons to recognize, modify, and avoid negative thoughts or attitudes and, most importantly, acquire coping capabiliti...