Focusing on alcohol dependence and alcohol-related problems in general, as well as their causes, treatment and prevention, this handbook also addresses the basic mechanisms of alcohol and its effects on human physiology and behaviour.

The last three decades have seen an explosion of social, psychological and clinical research to identify effective strategies to prevent and treat alcohol-related problems. This “Essential Handbook” contains an updated selection of reviews of “what works” drawn from the critically acclaimed International Handbook of Alcohol Dependence and Problems. Selected specifically for health and other professionals, who need to provide effective responses in their work, these authoritative, science-based reviews are a distillation of the more practical elements, designed to save time for the busy practitioner.

International in its scope and multidisciplinary in its approach, The International Handbook of Addiction Behaviour, originally published in 1991, set a new agenda in the addictions field. This volume brings together the full variety of scientific approaches to addiction behaviour. It broke new ground by highlighting the links between clinical work, training and research and proposes a way forward towards integrated treatment interventions. This title is a definitive teaching text and will still be a valuable resource for students in the addiction field.

The first authoritative guide to how the world drinks, this reference details alcohol use in different countries and cultures. Variation is striking, with alcohol sometimes a food, a sacrament, a symbol, a tool, a tranquilizer, a medicine, a love potion, or an object of scorn—often with very different meanings and uses in a single country. This volume reveals multicultural and ethnic beliefs, practices, and attitudes about drinking around the world. An extensive introduction discusses the close link between alcohol and culture and provides a foundation for the rest of the book. Each of the following chapters is written by an expert contributor and discusses alcohol and culture in a particular country. Chapters discuss historical trends, drinking among ethnic and religious minorities, national policies, and social outcomes. Countries range from industrial nations known for their alcohol research, to developing nations and to places famous for drinking. A concluding chapter highlights important similarities and differences.

While the war on drugs continues to attract world attention, it is often overlooked that alcoholism remains a major worldwide health concern. No matter what your expertise, the CRC Handbook of Alcoholism can help you acquire the necessary skills to treat problem drinkers and alcohol-dependent patients. In three sections - Patient Care, Research,

Alcohol use is complex and multifaceted. Our understanding must be also. Alcohol use, both problematic and not, can be understood at many levels – from basic biological systems through to global public health interventions. To provide the multi-level perspective needed to address this complexity, the Handbook of Alcohol Use draws together an eclectic set of authors, including both researchers and practitioners, to examine the causes, processes and effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, this book approaches the topic from biological, individual cognition, small group/systems, and domestic/global population perspectives. Each examines alcohol use differently and each offers its own ways to combat problematic behavior. While these alternative viewpoints are sometimes construed as incompatible or antagonistic, the current volume also explores how they can be complimentary.In summary, the Handbook of Alcohol Use brings together an international group of experts to explore how alcohol use can be understood from various perspectives and how these conceptualizations relate. In doing so, it allows us to understand alcohol consumption, and our responses to it, more from an account which spans ‘from synapse to society’. Explores alcohol use from individual through to societal levels Synthesizes these varied levels of analysis on alcohol use Draws on an international team of experts including researchers and alcohol treatment practitioners Makes clear the implications of research for practice (and vice versa)