psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how ...
,
attorney
Attorney may refer to:
* Lawyer
** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions
* Attorney, one who has power of attorney
* ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film
See also
* Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...
,
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
and the author of books and articles on the subject of
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
,
addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
and addiction treatment.
Career
Raised in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Peele received his
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
''cum laude'' on municipal and state scholarships from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...
from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1975. From 1976 to 2012, he maintained a private practice and consultancy while based in
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.J.D. from the
Rutgers School of Law – Newark
Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...
in 1997, Peele was admitted to the
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
bars. He maintained a concurrent law practice (including two stints as a pool attorney in the Morris County Public Defender's Office that offered vital insights into the workings of the American
criminal justice system
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
) until 2012. As a psychologist and addiction specialist, he has held visiting and adjunct academic positions at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
(adjunct clinical professor; 2003–2007),
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s.
The universi ...
(visiting professor; 2003–2010) and
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
(adjunct professor; 2004–2010). He currently resides in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
.
Peele inaugurated the Life Process Program (LPP) as a residential treatment program in Iowa from 2008 to 2011; LPP went online at that point and has been an international coaching service into the present (see the “Life Process Model of Addiction” ).
Peele is the author of fourteen books, including ''Love and Addiction'' (1975), ''The Meaning of Addiction'' (1985/1998), ''Diseasing of America'' (1989), ''The Truth about Addiction and Recovery'' (with Archie Brodsky and Mary Arnold, 1991), ''Resisting 12-Step Coercion'' (with Charles Bufe and Archie Brodsky, 2001), ''7 Tools to Beat Addiction'' (2004), ''Addiction-Proof Your Child'' (2007), ''Recover! Stop Thinking Like an Addict'' (with Ilse Thompson, 2014), ''Outgrowing Addiction: With Common Sense Instead of "Disease" Therapy'' (with Zach Rhoads, 2019), and his memoir, ''A Scientific Life on the Edge: My Lonely Quest to Change How We See Addiction'' (2021), as well as 250 other professional publications.
Addiction
He began his critique of standard notions of addiction when he published ''Love and Addiction'' (coauthored with Archie Brodsky). According to Peele's experiential/environmental approach, addictions are negative patterns of behavior that result from an over-attachment people form to experiences generated from a range of involvements. He contends that most people experience addiction to some degree at least for periods of time during their lives. He does not view addictions as medical problems but as "problems of life" that most people overcome. The failure to do so is the exception rather than the rule, he argues. This view opposes the
brain disease model of addiction
The disease model of addiction describes an addiction as a disease with biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. The traditional medical model of disease requires only that an abnormal condition be present that cause ...
.
In his books on non-addictive child rearing, ''Addiction-Proof Your Child'' (2007) and ''Outgrowing Addiction'' (with child development specialist Zach Rhoads, 2019), Peele argues that the best antidote for addiction is raising independent children who are competent and who have pro-social, health-oriented values. These same profiles, along with socially privileged backgrounds, account for which young people are able to overcome whatever addictive episodes they have.
In a number o papers as well as his 1989 book, ''Diseasing of America: Addiction Treatment Out of Control'', Peele has argued that treatment— including a in Project MATCH— is an inadequate, eve iatrogenic cultural response to addiction. This is particularly true, he finds, for disease treatments, since they diminish people's sense of themselves and their ability to change.
When it was published in 1975, ''Love and Addiction'' pre-dated by almost a decade the notion of
sex addiction
According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The c ...
and codependency popularized by authors such as Patrick Carnes, whose ''Out of the Shadows'', one of the earliest popular books to describe sex addiction, came out in 1983, and Melody Beattie, whose ''Codependent No More'' was published in 1986. ''Love and Addiction'' pre-dated the current popular use of the terms "sex addiction" and "codependency" to describe disorders of love attachment, as these terms were not part of Peele and Brodsky's nomenclature. However, because ''Love and Addiction'' was concerned with observing the same condition of addictive human attachments, it has been argued that this is the first book to be written on the subject of codependent relationships.
In reviewing the legacy of ''Love and Addiction'', psychologist Dr. Alex Kwee wrote:
"That experiences can be addictive was a prescient notion in 1975 as psychology now embraces the concept of the process (or behavioral) addictions such as pathological gambling, compulsive eating, and sex addiction. But it must surely be to Peele's dismay that instead of rethinking substance addiction as a medical illness, psychology has gone and classified the behaviors as addictions in the same medical sense and yielded the solution into the hands of the 12-Steps."
Views on alcoholism
Peele maintains that, depending on the person, abstinence or moderation are valid approaches to treat excessive drinking. In a
Psychology Today
''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direc ...
article which compared the ''Life Process Program'' with the ''disease model'', he also argues against the theory proposed decades ago by modern physicians, mental health professionals, research scientists, etc. that addiction is a disease. In ''Diseasing of America'' (1989) Peele contested Dr George Vaillant's pro-disease treatise '' The Natural History of Alcoholism''.
Peele has been concerned with identifying cultural factors (those differentiatin Temperance from non-Temperance societies in support of positive alcohol experiences, as well a medical an psychological benefits due to positive drinking practices. Primarily, he has found, such drinking occurs where alcohol use is socialized in young people in family and community settings. He has also sought t generalize this paradigm to drug use
Views on 12 step/disease treatment
In a co-authored book, ''Resisting 12 Step Coercion'' (2001), Peele outlined his case against court mandated attendance of twelve-step drug and alcohol treatment programs. He argued that these treatment programs are useless and sometimes harmful, he presented research on alternative treatment options, and accused some addiction providers of routine violation of standard medical ethics, an accusation that is likewise often leveled at Peele by disease proponents.
In ''The Truth About Addiction and Recovery'' (1991) and ''7 Tools to Beat Addiction'' (2004) Peele laid out what he believes to be the elements of alternative treatment. He developed these ideas as the '' Life Process Program,'' which was the basis for a non-12 Step residential treatment program and is now offered as an online treatment resource by Dr. Peele and colleagues.
Peele attributes th intensifying drug crisis in the US to the continuing acceptance and spread of the
disease model of addiction
The disease model of addiction describes an addiction as a disease with biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. The traditional medical model of disease requires only that an abnormal condition be present that ca ...
in both its 12-step and brain disease forms since, he feels, the disease model undercuts the sense of self-efficacy that characterizes positive, controlled substance use.
Criticism
In a review of ''The Meaning of Addiction'', addiction researcher Dr Griffith Edwards stated the following about Peele's work:
Recognition
ake a Blockquote��Stanton Peele has done as much as anyone to reveal the inadequacies, absurdities, and injustices of the idea that addiction is a disease and, specifically, that it is a disease of the brain. In a constant flow of influential books, articles, and blogs over more than forty years, he has persuasively extended the critique of the disease theory of addiction beyond the scientific community to the general public. When the disease theory is eventually replaced by a more rational and humane approach in the popular understanding of addiction, Stanton Peele will be first in line to receive the plaudits, and those of us who broadly share his view will owe him a profound debt of gratitude.”
—
Nick Heather
Nick Heather is a clinical psychologist, alcohol researcher and Emeritus Professor of Alcohol & Other Drug Studies at Northumbria University. He was one of the pioneers of brief intervention techniques to reduce alcohol misuse, and has challenged ...
, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Alcohol & Other Drug Studies, Northumbria University, UK; co-editor, ''Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction''.
* 1989: Rutgers
Center of Alcohol Studies The Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) is a multidisciplinary research institute located in the Busch Campus of Rutgers University, which performs clinical and biomedical research on alcohol use and misuse. The center was originally at Yale Universit ...
Mark Keller Award for Alcohol Studies for his article "The limitations of control-of-supply models for explaining and preventing alcoholism and drug addiction," JSA, 48:61-77, 1987.
*1994: Alfred R. Lindesmith Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC,
* 1998: Creation of the Annual Stanton Peele Lecture, 1998, by the Addiction Studies Program,
Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.
Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn P ...
, Melbourne, Australia.
* 2006: Lifetime Achievement Award, 2006, International Network on Personal Meaning, Vancouver.
Funding
Lindesmith Center (now the Drug Policy Alliance): grant to write an adolescent drug guide (1996).
The
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is a national trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the United States. DISCUS was formed in 1973 by the merger of three organizations (the Bo ...
(DISCUS), and the Wine Institute provided unrestricted grants.