| Course | PAC 110 Addiction Theories |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | History of addiction models paper |
| Length | About 1,061 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PAC 110 Module 1
Weak or Sick? How Four Centuries of Thinking About Addiction Answer One Client's Question
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
PAC 110: Addiction Theories
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Weak or Sick? How Four Centuries of Thinking About Addiction Answer One Client's Question
Ray is fifty-one, a former steelworker and a grandfather, and he has just returned to Millbrook Counseling Center, an invented outpatient program in western Pennsylvania, after his third return to drinking in two years. In his first session back he asked his counselor a question he said he had been carrying for decades: "Am I weak, or am I sick?" His father had called drinking a lack of backbone. His first treatment program had told him he had a disease he did not cause and could never cure. His daughter had read that addiction rewires the brain. Each answer came from a different model of addiction, and each model has a history. This paper traces that history and asks what each model would say to Ray. Ray and Millbrook are composites for teaching; the research is real.
From Sin to Loss of Control
Levine (1978) argued that the idea of addiction was itself discovered at a particular time. In colonial America, drinking was nearly universal and heavy drinking was common. Drunkenness was condemned as a sin, but it was understood as a choice: people drank too much because they loved drink and chose to indulge. No one described drinkers as unable to stop. Around the end of the eighteenth century, that changed. Benjamin Rush, a physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, described habitual drunkenness as a disease of the will, in which the drinker lost the ability to control his desire for alcohol. Levine identified loss of control as the new and central idea, and it has remained at the heart of thinking about addiction since.
Temperance and the Alcoholic Person
The temperance movement of the nineteenth century took Rush's idea in a particular direction. According to Levine (1978), temperance writers located the source of addiction in alcohol itself: the substance was inherently addictive, and anyone who drank moderately risked becoming a drunkard. The logical answer was to stop drinking altogether, for individuals and eventually for the nation, which led to Prohibition. After Prohibition ended, the focus shifted from the substance to the person. In the new view, most people could drink safely, but a minority, alcoholics, had a condition that made them unable to control their drinking. This view shaped Alcoholics Anonymous and the medical disease model that followed.
Four Ways to Assign Responsibility
Brickman et al. (1982) offered a way to compare these views. They argued that every model of helping answers two separate questions: are people responsible for causing their problem, and are they responsible for solving it? The answers produce four models. In the moral model, people are responsible for both; they caused the problem and must fix it through effort. In the compensatory model, people did not cause the problem, perhaps because of circumstances, but they are responsible for solving it with help. In the medical model, people are responsible for neither; they are ill and must accept treatment from experts. In the enlightenment model, people are responsible for causing the problem but cannot solve it alone; they must submit to a higher authority or a group. Brickman and colleagues described Alcoholics Anonymous as a clear example of the enlightenment model.
| Model | What causes addiction | Responsible for the problem? | Responsible for the solution? | What it tells Ray |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moral | Weak character, poor choices | Yes | Yes | Try harder |
| Temperance | The substance itself | Partly | Yes, by abstaining | Never drink again |
| Medical or disease | An illness in the person | No | No; accept treatment | You are sick, not bad |
| Enlightenment (12-step) | A personal failing beyond one's power | Yes | No; rely on a higher power and the group | Admit powerlessness, work the steps |
| Compensatory | Circumstances, history, environment | No | Yes, with support | You did not choose this, but you can change it |
The Brain Disease Model
In an influential essay, Leshner (1997), then director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, argued that addiction is a brain disease expressed in compulsive behavior. Prolonged drug use changes the brain in lasting ways, he wrote, so that a person who began using voluntarily reaches a point where use is driven by altered brain function. He argued that the label matters because it should change how society responds: away from punishment and toward treatment, and away from stigma. Leshner did not claim that biology was the whole story. He emphasized that addiction has behavioral and social dimensions and that effective treatment must address all of them.
What the Models Get Right and Wrong
Each model has helped some people. The moral model preserved the idea that people can change their behavior. The disease model reduced shame and brought addiction into medicine. The enlightenment model gave millions a community and a practice for staying sober. But each also has limits. The moral model breeds shame, which can make people hide their drinking. The pure medical model can leave people feeling that nothing they do matters. Brickman et al. (1982) argued that the compensatory model, in which people are not blamed for the problem but are treated as capable of solving it, may best support lasting change, because it combines relief from blame with a sense of agency.
What the History Means for Ray
Ray has heard the moral model from his father, the medical model from his first program and the brain disease model from his daughter. A social worker who understands the history can help him see that these are not facts competing for the truth but different answers to different questions. His drinking is shaped by changes in his brain, by a family history and by the losses he has lived through; he did not choose those. But he is not helpless. He has stopped before, and he can learn what helps him stay stopped. That framing, closest to the compensatory model, answers his question: he is neither weak nor simply sick.
Conclusion
Ideas about addiction have moved from sin to loss of control, from blaming the substance to blaming the person's illness and now to the brain. Levine shows that each idea arose in its time, Brickman and colleagues show that the models differ in how they assign responsibility and Leshner shows why the brain disease view has been influential. For practice, the history teaches that the model a helper holds shapes what a client hears about himself.
References
Brickman, P., Rabinowitz, V. C., Karuza, J., Jr., Coates, D., Cohn, E., & Kidder, L. (1982). Models of helping and coping. American Psychologist, 37(4), 368-384. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.37.4.368
Leshner, A. I. (1997). Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters. Science, 278(5335), 45-47. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.278.5335.45
Levine, H. G. (1978). The discovery of addiction: Changing conceptions of habitual drunkenness in America. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 39(1), 143-174. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsa.1978.39.143
Reading the PAC 110 Module 1 assignment instructions
The first module of PAC 110 usually asks for a historical survey: how addiction has been explained over time and what each explanation implies for the person and the helper. Aspen gives the exact Module 1 wording in the classroom; the client and program here are invented. Trace the major models in order and explain what changed and why. Use a framework that lets you compare models on the same terms rather than describing each in isolation. Name at least one model's limits as well as its contribution. Connect the history to practice by showing how each view would shape what a social worker says and does. Cite primary sources in APA 7 and keep the history accurate to its period.
How this PAC 110 Module 1 example is built
The paper begins with Ray, fifty-one, who asks his counselor whether he is weak or sick after his third relapse. Levine's article in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol supplies the history: colonial tolerance of heavy drinking, Benjamin Rush's description of drunkenness as a disease of the will, the temperance movement's blame on alcohol itself and the later focus on the alcoholic person. Brickman and colleagues' American Psychologist article on models of helping and coping provides the moral, compensatory, medical and enlightenment models. Leshner's Science essay states the brain disease view. A five-row table compares the models on cause, responsibility and treatment. The closing sections tell Ray what each model would say and why a social worker needs more than one.
Reading the PAC 110 Module 1 grading rubric
History of theory papers are marked for accuracy, for a clear organizing framework and for critical comparison rather than a list of eras. This example uses Levine's history to anchor the dates and ideas, then uses Brickman and colleagues' two questions, who caused the problem and who must solve it, to compare every model on the same terms. Leshner's argument is presented fairly before its limits are named. The table makes the comparison visible, and the reflection on Ray turns the history into practice, which the course's emphasis on reflective practice rewards. The paper treats no model as simply wrong; each is shown to have helped some people and harmed others, which is the balance instructors look for.
Common PAC 110 Module 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them
A common weakness is a timeline of dates with no analysis of what changed or why. Ask what each era believed caused addiction and who it held responsible. Another is presenting the disease model as the modern truth and earlier views as ignorance; each model still shapes practice and each has limits. Use a framework, such as Brickman and colleagues' four models, to compare views on the same terms. Avoid relying on popular histories when primary sources are available. Keep the client or case at the center so the history has a purpose. Finally, say where you stand and why, since the course asks you to examine your own assumptions as well as the theories.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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PAC 110 Module 1 questions, answered
What does PAC 110 Module 1 usually ask for?
Aspen's PAC 110 opens with how addiction has been explained over time, so a paper tracing the major models and comparing what each implies is typical. Read your Module 1 prompt.
When did people start calling addiction a disease?
Levine traced the idea of habitual drunkenness as a loss of control, a disease of the will, to the late eighteenth century, especially the writing of Benjamin Rush.
What are Brickman's four models of helping?
Moral, compensatory, medical and enlightenment, sorted by whether people are held responsible for causing their problem and for solving it.
Where can I find a free PAC 110 Module 1 sample paper?
Read it above at no cost: a history of addiction models built around one client's question, with a table comparing the models.
Why does the brain disease label matter?
Leshner argued that seeing addiction as a brain disease should reduce stigma and shift policy toward treatment, while still recognizing behavior and social context.