The Family of the Addict: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

The literature from various disciplines on the visible male drug addict emphasizes his immature personality development. Whether viewed from learning or psychoanalytic theory, the family plays a crucial role in the formation of his personality.

The family of the addict, typically, provides an unstable environment for emotional growth. The mother's relationship with the addict is particularly critical. The father is detached and uninvolved while the mother, who dominates the family, is viewed as emotionally immature, conflicted, and ambivalent about her family role. This provides poor conditioning for the addict in his own assumption of the roles of husband and father. In marriage there is likelihood of a replication of the original family dynamics—a dominating, psychosexually ambivalent wife who perpetuates the male addict's immature behavior patterns.