ABSTRACT
Many models and theories have proposed to explain the use or misuse of alcohol and drugs, and about the causes of substance use. The models or theories range from those which stress the genetic or biological causes and those which stress social or psychological causes. Some theories attempt to view addiction as both a physiological and a psycho-social dimension. The models or theories attempt to provide explanations for the initiation into substance misuse or for why individuals begin to use drugs, and the process of addiction. This chapter examines the different approaches, models and theories of alcohol and drug use and misuse: moral, disease, genetic, psychoanalytic, behavioural, social learning, personality, socio-cultural, bio-psychosocial and bio-psychosocial-spiritual.
