Bruce Alexander attributes addiction to what he calls “inadequate social integration” or “dislocation”. Those suffering from dislocation construct “substitute lifestyles” which may focus on dangerous and excessive drug use. The famous Rat Park experiment is a powerful demonstration of this effect. Alexander took the traditional experiment, which found that rats, when given the choice between morphine and food or water will choose morphine every time,and turned it on its head. Alexander took the rats out of the individual cages in which they had been housed and created what he termed ” a quasi-natural colony” for them. They were provided with space and mazes to run around in, empty boxes and canisters to hide and nest in, and most importantly other rats to socialize and mate with. In his own words he found that: “Rats housed in a quasi-natural surrounding drank much less morphine hydrochloride solution than rats in standard laboratory cages.” This effect extended also to rats that had been previously exposed to morphine, even to the point of addiction. In essence what he had discovered was that it was not the morphine causing the addiction, but the isolation and alienation of being forced to live in a cage. If this is true then the solution to problematic drug is use is re-connection.
In his more recent work, Alexander, goes further than this. Elaborating on his rat park experiment, he sees drug addiction as the manifestation of a greater problem in our society. The problem he sees is that addiction, in all its forms, not just drug addiction, is a way of adapting to the sustained dislocation of globalization. Our society, he believes, deliberately obscures the link between free markets, mass dislocation and addiction. Mass media and political leaders celebrate the achievements and innovations of the free-market, while attributing its failings to individual immorality and weakness. Advertising urges people to keep consuming, regardless of the consequences. Millions are spent distracting people from ‘the truth’. Research funded by government and industry is designed to confuse and obfuscate the truth. Educational institutions no longer teach critical thinking. Fake news abounds, to the point where it becomes nearly impossible to find the truth. In this milieu, drugs become the scapegoat, the reason for all that is wrong in the world. In truth it is dislocation that is at the core of what he refers to as “the modern poverty of the spirit”, and is the root cause of addiction
For the individual the dislocation that causes addiction can be overcome by finding a secure place in a real community. This can be either through reconnection with family and friends, or through a created community such as a 12 step fellowship group.
The only way we can really tackle this problem, at a societal level and in the long term, he believes, is through large scale social and political changes aimed at rebuilding community and promoting psychosocial integration at individual and community level. He highlights particular issues that he feels need to be addressed. Firstly the overcoming of indoctrination through the media, and its domination by corporations and capital. The mass media in his view indoctrinates us from earliest childhood with individualistic, competitive and acquisitive values that undermine psychosocial integration. They prepare us to accept the inevitabilty of free-market dominance, obscure its negative effects, distract from the grinding devastation that results from its policies through focusing on overblown, grotesque scandals and everyday lives of so-called celebrities, and mock alternative ideas as naïve and unsophisticated. Another issue that Alexander feels needs to be addressed to increase pychosocial integration (and of particular relevance in this country) is that of land claims. Many native peoples remain severely dislocated and Alexander attributes one of the main reason for this to instability which comes with the loss of land.
Reviving community art is also seen as an important factor. Art contributes to people’s and community’s sense of identity. It also plays a crucial role in raising people’s awareness of local issues and of their neighbours. He cites the example of the Hastings Corridor, a run down drug-plagued area in his home town of Vancouver, where a series of community art projects has led to a renewed participation by residents in social activism and revitalized the area. (p375) In 2003 one project, a play named In The Heart of the City, drew on real life stories of inner city living and drew in over 2000 residents as volunteers to work on the play, most of these were unemployed and either still using drug, or in recovery. The play performed to sold out houses, and was attended by the cities elite, including the mayor. Also important are sport and social clubs which can give people a sense of belonging.
Other issues he feels need to be addressed are the changing of drug laws to halt the criminalization of people who use drugs, a re-thinking of the role of religion and spirituality to challenge oppression and suffering in society, rather than supporting the status quo, the reclaiming of the university from being turned into corporate training centres, and a return to the teaching of critical thinking.
