The History of Addiction/Recovery-Related Periodicals in America: Literature as Cultural/Professional Artifact

Abstract

Can significant changes in the addictions field be identified by examining its specialized literature? Are political, economic, and cultural changes surrounding addiction and its treatment mirrored in its literature? In this paper an addictions historian/author (William White) and an addictions librarian/information professional (Barbara Weiner) examine the past 150 years of addiction/recovery history by analyzing the literature of the field. Over 250 American journal, magazine, and newsletter titles were examined for their focus, audience, and years of publication to identify important trends and cycles reflected in addiction/ recovery-related periodical literature.

Keywords

History addiction literature periodicals journals recovery publishing

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrews

T.A.

and Cohen

(1979). Drug and Alcohol Abuse Periodicals. Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Review 2(4): 1–11.

Arciniega

L.T.

and Miller

W.R.

(1997). Where to Publish? Some Considerations Among English-Language Addiction Journals. Addiction 92(12):1639–1648.

Babor

Thomas F.

(1999). Alcohology in the United States: A Historical and Scientific Account. Alcoologie 21(HS):273–277.

Babor

Thomas F.

(1993). Megatrends and Dead Ends: Alcohol Research in a Global Perspective. Alcohol Health and Research World 17(3):177–186.

Bearden

(1992). The Spiritual Side of Recovery. Publishers Weekly 239(22):45–46.

Blumberg

(1978). The American Association for the Study and Cure of Inebriety. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2:234–240.

Blumberg

with Pittman

(1991). Beware the First Drink! Seattle, WA: Glen Abbey Books.

Boxenbaum

and Jaffe

J.H.

(1982). Publication Trends in the Drug Dependence Literature. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 9(1):55–68.

Crichton

(1989). On the Road to Recovery with Prentice Hall, Gallantine, et al. Publishers Weekly 236(18):52–53.

10.

Crothers

T.D.

(1893). Diseases of Inebriety. New York: E.B. Treat.

11.

Crothers

T.D.

(1912). A Review of the History and Literature of Inebriety: The First Journal and Its Work to Present. Journal of Inebriety, 33:139–151.

12.

Dowd

(1992). Making Room for the Recovery Boom. Library Journal 117(8):49–52.

13.

Edwards

(1997). Addiction Journals: Amazing Happenings, Landmark Meeting, Historic Consensus, Evolving Process. Addiction 92(12):1613–1616.

14.

Griffin

(1991) In Christian Recovery Titles, There Is a “Higher Power.” Publishers Weekly 238(20):26–27.

15.

Howard

M.O.

(1992). Citation Analysis of 541 Articles Published in Drug and Alcohol Journals: 1984–1988. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 53(5):427–434.

16.

Howard

M.O.

and Walker

R.D.

(1996). Multiple Authorship: Trends over 50 Years in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 57(1):105–106.

17.

Hughes

J.R.

and Oliveto

A.H.

(1990). The Growth and Treatment Research in Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders: A Computerized Literature Search. Drugs and Alcohol Dependence 26:81–84.

18.

Johnson

(1973). The Alcoholism Movement in America: A Study in Cultural Innovation. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Ph.D. dissertation.

19.

Jones

A.W.

(1996). Some Thoughts and Reflections on Authorship. Alcohol and Alcoholism 31(1): 11–15.

20.

Jones

A.W.

(1999). The Impact of Alcohol and Alcoholism Among Substance Abuse Journals. Alcohol and Alcoholism 34(1):25–34.

21.

Jones

(1990). The Rage for Recovery. Publishers Weekly 237(47): 16–24.

22.

LeBlanc

(1991). Recovery Books Turn Problems into Best Sellers. Christianity Today 35(10):70.

23.

Lender

and Martin

(1982). Drinking in America. New York: The Free Press.

24.

Levine

(1978). The Discovery of Addiction: Changing Conceptions of Habitual Drunkenness in America. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 39(2):143–174.

25.

McCullough

(1994). The New Spin Is Spirituality. Publishers Weekly 241(20):40–43.

26.

Moll

and Narin

(1977). Characterization of the Alcohol Research Literature. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 38(11):2165–2180.

27.

Roizen

(1991). The American Discovery of Alcoholism, 1933–1939. Berkeley: University of California Ph.D. dissertation.

28.

Rorabaugh

(1979). The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

29.

Shore

L.A.

(1991). After the New Age: The Recovery Trend. Skeptical Inquirer 15(3):227–228.

30.

Stimmel

(1991). A Decade of Publication: What's in a Name? Journal of Addictive Diseases 10(1/2):xi–xii.

31.

Van Ruyven

and Veenstra

(1993). An Inventory of the Alcohol Research Literature. Alcohol and Alcoholism 28(5):599–605.

32.

White

(1998). Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America. Bloomington, IL: Chestnut Health Systems.

33.

White

(2000). Toward a New Recovery Movement: Historical Reflections on Recovery, Treatment, and Advocacy, http://defeataddiction.org.