Abstract
This chapter begins with an account of early psychoanalytic theories about PG. These involve themes such as masochism (deep down, the gambler wants to lose) and, unsurprisingly, looked to early childhood determinants and the unconscious. From there, however, we quickly turn to narcotic addiction, which in the early twentieth century came to set the standard for addictions as such. While alcoholism had provided the first prototype, this changed when the term “addict” came to be associated with the stereotypical junkie: a supposedly wretched, dishonest, and reprehensible creature. Given that newly illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine had become less popular among upper- and middle-class whites, and more often associated with racial minorities and the underclass, public and even scientific discussions of drug addiction were increasingly marked by negative portrayals. Ironically, addicts often vindicated these stereotypes for assorted reasons such as wanting to garner sympathy or (if recovered) to distance themselves from their previous lives. All of this led to a conception of drug addiction that would affect perceptions of other compulsive disorders, and PG was no exception.
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Notes
- 1.
The link between the harshness and individual vulnerability is not all that clear. The idea that an addiction only afflicts certain individuals is still prominent today in terms of vulnerabilities. It is widely acknowledged that most severe PGs have some preexisting problems such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Individual vulnerability is also compatible with public health models which often view some individuals as being more vulnerable than others.
- 2.
This section is about how the term “pathological” came to be more and more negative in its implications. This particular statement however is not inherently negative. The idea of an impression is likely a reference to the wax tablet metaphor of the memory. This particular statement may even be an early attempt at a learning theory of addiction.
- 3.
Though of course in other areas psychoanalysis relied very much on unproven biological assumptions such as the division of the mind into three components and the assertion of the inevitability of sexual attraction of a child to their opposite sex parent as a basis for mental illness.
- 4.
For those readers expecting logical coherence among these ideas, this section may seem frustrating. The truth is that there is no clear link between the theoretical models and the attitude towards prohibition or the hardness of their views about addicts.
- 5.
By punitive, we are referring to the legal punishment such as incarceration for possession. Prohibition in itself is not punitive, but it is often associated with legal punishment for people who continue to use despite prohibition.
- 6.
The first Great Awakening (circa 1725–1750) was a religious revival wherein new sects and the conversion experience were established. Traditional Calvinist religious authority often gave way to uneducated lay preachers, often emphasizing a voluntaristic conception of redemption (labeled Arminianism). The Second Great Awakening (circa 1800–1835) established even more distance from traditional Calvinism, opening the door to even greater human agency in the reception of Divine Grace (see: Fraser, 1985; Keller, 1942; McLoughlin, 1978).
- 7.
Scientization is the rendering of something more scientific. Scientism is a trend in Western thought wherein everything is rethought from a scientific point of view. The term is typically a pejorative, suggesting that people are overdoing it, for example, applying scientific methods where such methods do not belong.
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Ferentzy, P., Turner, N.E. (2013). Early to Middle Twentieth Century: Psychoanalysis and Drug Addiction. In: The History of Problem Gambling. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6699-4_5
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