Stanton Peele

Stanton Peele, Ph. D., J.D., (born January 8, 1946) is a licensed psychologist, attorney, practicing psychotherapist and the author of numerous books and articles on the subject of alcoholism, addiction and treatment. His contribution to the field of alcoholism has won him several awards including the 1994 Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for achievement in the Field of Scholarship, from the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC and in 1989 the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies Mark Keller Award for Alcohol Studies for his article "The limitations of control-of-supply models for explaining and preventing alcoholism and drug addiction," JSA, 48:61-77, 1987.

Dr. Peele began his critique of standard notions of addiction in 1975 when he published Love and Addiction (coauthored with Archie Brodsky). According to Dr. Peele's experential/environmental approach, addictions are negative patterns of behavior that result from an overattachment people form to experiences generated from a range of involvements. Most people experience addiction to some degree at least for periods of time during their lives. He does not view addictions as medical problems but as "problems of life" that most people overcome. The failure to do so is the exception rather than the rule, he argues.

Peele's belief that alcoholism and addictions are not biologically based diseases is in opposition to some research on the subject and unaccepted by some in the   alcoholism treatment, education, and prevention fields, however, his views on the behavioral aspects of addiction have embraced by behavioral therapists and others in the medical community. Although most medical and psychological associations define alcoholism as a disease, there is significant controversy regarding this point outside the medical field. One reviewer of The Meaning of Addiction described his ambivalence as follows: ""With these and other issues treated in cavalier fashion, with referencing highly incomplete and crucial work often ignored, one begins to feel that this is a book where polemic and scholarship have become inextricably and unhappily mixed. ... Peele is not only a psychologist of distinction, but someone who can make use of sociological and biological ideas. ... So there's the dilemma.""

- Griffith Edwards

Peele has published articles in Psychology Today. He has critiqued research on alcoholism, including research by Moos and Moos, pointing out inadaquecies in their methodology. He has reviewed work by George Vaillant and has drawn attention to a study by Vaillant that determined that 60% of those with a drinking problem quit on their own, in spite of Vaillant's perceived pro-AA stance. His view of alcohol as a drug of choice has been adopted by the Adlerian Society and as well as others in the medical field.

In his book Resisting 12 step Coercion he provides guidance for the one million-plus Americans per year who face coerced religious indoctrination in the guise of alcohol or drug treatment. The book outlines legal strategies and existing court decisions, and argues that 12-step treatment is useless and sometimes harmful. The book also describes the routine violation of standard medical ethics by providers of addiction treatment.

Peele is the author of nine books including, in addition to Love and Addiction, The Meaning of Addiction (1985/1998), Diseasing of America (1989), The Truth about Addiction and Recovery (with Archie Brodsky and Mary Arnold, 1991), Resisting 12-Step Coercion (with Charles Bufe and Archie Brodsky, 2001), 7 Tools to Beat Addiction (2004), and Addiction-Proof Your Child (2007), as well as 200 professional publications. Peele has three children: Dana, Haley and Anna. On a lighter note, Peele is well-known in Northern New Jersey for throwing "Damien Rice Parties," in honor of the Irish singer-songwriter. He's also won several Rice sound-alike contests, though critics argue that the lack of regional competition somewhat diminishes the scope of the accomplishments.