Point: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: OR DID HE?

A Discussion on the Disease Theory of Substance Abuse

Quoting that great theologian "Geraldine," comedian Flip Wilson's
female alter ego, "The devil made me do it" is how we will begin our
discussion of the disease theory of substance abuse.

The disease theory explains crime and the behavior associated with it
as disease. The victim is the criminal who has committed a crime
because of something he or she is unable to control.

Whenever Geraldine acted up it was the devil's fault, and she would
declare it with great bravado and style. Blaming the "devil" was part
of her brazen persona and the audience would easily play along; but in
the end we all knew it was really Geraldine who did it, and it was
Geraldine who was at fault.

When we look to the causes of substance abuse, we too often place a
greater blame on the "devil" than the individual. That is, it was the
devil or some other outside influence that was the cause of the problem.

Blame and punishment are only half the battle in maintaining an
ordered society. I believe our emphasis should be on prevention and
the moral choices that must be made to abstain from doing wrong.

If we follow the philosophy of the disease theory, we lose the battle
before it's begun.

We concede that the devil made them do it and we should only curse the
devil and treat the individual. I am aware of studies that show a
genetic predisposition to drug, alcohol and cigarette addiction.

But I am also aware of studies that have found people with the same
genetic propensity who do not become alcoholics, drug addicts or
otherwise become addicted.

Enoch Gordis, director of the National Institute on Alcohol and
Alcoholism reported "There is no doubt that genetics play a role in
alcoholism... But do we say that it is only genetic? Of course not. We
know that some people are loaded genetically, but obviously they can't
become an alcoholic unless they take a drink."

It's in taking that first drink, puff of marijuana or illicit drug of
choice, where our battleground in prevention must be fought. By this I
don't mean total abstinence from legal substances, I mean
self-discipline, making moral choices and equipping our youth to
accomplish both.

It is my personal belief that the foundation for criminal behavior is
hedonism: The worship of self at the altar of self gratification. The
total lack of self-control or self-discipline comes into the world
with us and unless we control it, by training against it, we lose.

It seems like a simple concept that is an obvious conclusion by anyone
who has raised a child. We don't have to teach chaos, we have to teach
order. Our children come to the world well-equipped with selfish
motivations. I never had to teach my children to be mean to one
another, to keep a favorite toy to themselves or NOT to share their
ice cream with their sister.

As part of a class exercise, I sometimes ask my students to find the
similarities between the crime of Michael Miliken, who committed a
multiple million dollar stock fraud, and the crime of a common street
gang member.

I suggest that it's in the similarities where we find the cause of
crime. The result is the recognition that the most obvious similarity
between the two are that each wanted more. They were not satisfied
with what they had, and each committed crime to get more. More
self-gratification through money or power which brought more
self-gratification; a true hedonist can always get more, but they can
never get enough.

Daniel Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence" supports the notion
that we can prepare our children to make better choices through
prevention programs. Prevention programs centered on enhancing social
development skills. Goleman points out that the "W.T. Grant
Consortium's study of prevention programs found they are far more
effective when they teach a core of emotional and social competences,
such as impulse control, managing anger and finding creative solutions
to social predicaments."

These social competences have been taught elsewhere as appropriate
character models and were taught by my parents and yours as simply the
right thing to do.

In sum, the answer is not to blame the devil or a disease, but to
teach self-discipline, to focus the battle on prevention and to not
dismiss the notion that there is a moral choice to be made in the use
of both legal and illegal substances.

It is in that choice where the individual can be prepared to make the
right decision.

We are responsible for preparing our children to recognize that the
devil may temp them, but in the end they make the choice to partake.
They, not the devil, are accountable and must personally pay the cost.