Behavioral addictions-a social science perspective

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion on the debated concept of behavioral addiction. Building on, or rather copied from, indicators of substance use problems in such diagnostic manuals as DSM, the development and use of the concept has mainly taken place within a medical science context. In this paper I suggest a social science model, i.e., a return to such ideas as habituation, aiming at an alternative interpretation of behavioral addiction and the problems related to the concept.