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Abstract
Although religions have been far from silent on the use of psychoactive drugs, and spirituality has long been emphasized as an important factor in recovery from addiction, surprisingly little research has explored the relationships between these two phenomena. Current findings indicate that spiritual/religious involvement may be an important protective factor against alcohol/drug abuse. Individuals currently suffering from these problems are found to have a low level of religious involvement, and spiritual (re)engagement appears to be correlated with recovery. Reasons are explored for the lack of studies testing spiritual hypotheses, and promising avenues for future research are discussed. Comprehensive addictions research should include not only biomedical, psychological and socio-cultural factors but spiritual aspects of the individual as well.
Introduction
The history of alcohol and other drug use is intertwined with spirituality and religion. The use of specific psychoactive agents is proscribed in certain religious traditions, and prescribed in others. The influential Twelve-Step programs, arising from Alcoholics Anonymous and its protestant roots (Kurtz, 1979), have always understood both the etiology of and recovery from addiction in fundamentally spiritual terms, yet surprisingly little empirical research has focused on this aspect of addiction and its treatment. This paper considers how spiritual dimensions are pertinent to and proper subjects for addiction research. Although I have sought to take a broader perspective, I must acknowledge the Christian culture that has shaped my own understanding, and within which much of the cited research has been conducted.
Spirituality versus religion
Science begins with definition and observation. The concept of spirit is often defined in contrast to matter, and spirituality in contrast with materialism. To speak of the spiritual is to refer to that which is transcendent or transpersonal. Descriptively, this might be captured in the general assertion that "we have bodies, but we are not our bodies". Whether or not a scientist personally embraces this view, it is one that has characterized most of humankind throughout recorded history, and as an attribute of humanity it is a proper subject for scientific investigation James, 1902).
An important distinction, passionately so in some circles, is that between spirituality and religion. The following brief points of differentiation may be helpful.
(1) Spirituality is typically understood at the level of the individual. As with...