ABSTRACT
In response to the use of alcohol and other drugs in the work place, policy decisions with significant social and legal implications—such as urine testing for drug use—are being made without a clear understanding of either the epidemiology or etiology of this phenomenon. This chapter presents the major theoretical perspectives on employees' substance abuse and assesses the desirability of integrating them. The "medicalization" of the problem may be philosophically appealing to employers because it attributes drug and alcohol abuse to factors unrelated to one's job or work place. The phenomenon of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs has long been recognized as an important social problem. The chapter suggests that each of the four independent variables—after-work interaction with coworkers, dissatisfaction with one's job, age, and gender—would serve as predictors for the dependent variable, working under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
