In this book, social work practitioners, theorists, and researchers offer new perspectives on the meaning, role, and history of addiction in our society and the construction of illicit drug use as a social problem.
Some of the contributors discuss assessment tools and therapeutic programs being employed today in the treatment of addicted individuals.
These papers work together to educate the aspiring helping professional and the practitioner in the field about the very complex and ubiquitous problem of addiction, while underlining the centrality of addiction as another form of the oppression addressed daily by social workers.
Editors Rick Csiernik and William Rowe want to extend and enrich the education and on-going discussion of addiction within the social work community in order to help increasing numbers of individuals through better legislation, informed institutions, and more effective treatment alternatives.

Rick Csiernik is a Professor at King’s University College, Western University. He has authored and edited several Canadian Scholars textbooks: Wellness and Work (2005); Responding to the Oppression of Addiction (co-edited with William S. Rowe, 2017, third edition); Substance Use and Abuse (2016, second edition); and Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health (co-edited with Cheryl Forchuk and Elsabeth Jensen, 2011) . He has written more than 95 journal articles, and some of his research interests include addiction, Workplace Wellness, social work, and spirituality. He has consecutively been included on the King’s University College Honour Roll of Teaching, and is a recipient of the Instructor Appreciation Award at McMaster University.

Rick Csiernik's profile page

William Rowe is Professor of Social Work at the University of South Florida and holds cross-appointments at the Moffitt Cancer Center, the College of Public Health and the AIDS Training and Education Center also at the University of South Florida. Dr. Rowe has authored over 130 academic and professional works and has provided lectures and seminars in over 30 countries.

William S. Rowe's profile page