Beyond the Disease Model: Reframing the Etiology of Alcoholism From a Spiritual Perspective

Abstract

The disease model of alcoholism, which has gained prominence since the mid-20th century as the major etiological model of alcoholism, suffers from several limitations including its overemphasis on biological factors at the expense of other psychosocial factors, in addition to its lack of consistency with a holistic, social work person-in-environment perspective. The increased interest in spirituality among social work and other helping professionals calls on educators and practitioners to be at the forefront of efforts to develop new holistic conceptualizations of alcoholism that can incorporate spirituality. Using transpersonal theory as a conceptual framework, a spiritual etiological model of alcoholism is presented that complements the strengths of the disease model by allowing for the inclusion of biological determinants of alcoholism, providing a complementary way to understand alcoholism that can be taught to students and utilized by practitioners.