Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders, Third Edition [Paperback]

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders, Third Edition [Paperback]

Product Details

Paperback: 684 pages
Publisher: The Guilford Press; Third Edition edition (January 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1609182057
ISBN-13: 978-1609182052
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Richard J. Frances MD (Editor), Sheldon I. Miller (Editor), Avram H. Mack MD (Editor)
Price : $33.72
You Save : $11.28 (25%)

Customer Reviews

This books contains a collection of articles on different topics written by different authors. This is normal for the field of psychology, but it does not work so well in this volume. Some of the chapters contradict each other. And the authors vary widely in scienticity. Some of the authors cite extensive rigorous research to back up their points. Others cite theories and ideas (many of their own) instead of any of the copious amounts of research on the topic (that sometimes contradicts their ideas). The editors could have done a better job selecting chapter authors who used the same standard of research. To its credit, it does cover a wide range of topics and some of the individual chapters are very informative and well researched.

As a standard text this leaves much to be desired. My main concern is that there is too little emphasis on the behavioral and subjective effects of drugs and too much emphasis on neurochemistry and physiology. Also, the selection of topics is somewhat arbitrary -- many important etiological and other issues are ignored -- and the quality of writing is quite uneven. It is a book that every professional needs to own - but it isn't the stand-alone "comprehensive" text that it claims to be.