ABSTRACT
Whatdowemeanwhenwesaythatsomeonehasa'successfulcareerasafootbaUer'andwhatdoesthishavetodowithaddictivebehaviour?First,beinga footballerdefinesaparticularrole,oneofthemanyrolesmakingupanindividual's life.Second,careercharacterizesaprogressionofbehaviourwhichdevelopsagainst abackdropofanexpectednormorsometemplateofafootballingcareer.Theword 'successful'introducestheideaofindividualvariationorevendeviationfromthe template.So,careercanbeunderstoodasmeaningontheonehandthetypical courseofaparticularcalling(definedrole)includingitsgoodandbadaspects,but ontheotherhandcanbefollowedatanindividuallevel.Theroleofdrinkerordrug takercanbeconceptualizedinthesameway,althoughEdwards(1984)cautionsthat theconceptofcareerappliedtosubstancemisusemaybenomorethanan'analyticallyusefulartefact'.
