Feminism and Angst

Reviews the book, Feminist Perspectives on Addictions edited by Nan Van Den Bergh (see record 1991-98389-000). This work is primarily about women and substance abuse. There are several chapters on female alcoholism, on women's use of prescribed psychoactive drugs, and on eating disorders. There are also chapters about "process dependencies," which include compulsive gambling, sexual and romantic addictions, and work addiction. This volume purports to be a collection of feminist writings on addictions. Female alcoholism has been described in terms of response to "a patriarchal culture," and because there really are gender differences in stigma, and probably in access to treatment, a good case can be made for the fact that women who manifest deviant behaviors (deviance as defined by sociologists) are more disadvantaged than men who manifest similar deviant behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)