Reactive attitudes, relationships, and addiction

This chapter focuses on the structure of close personal relations and diagnose how these relationships are disrupted by addiction. It draws upon Peter Strawson’s landmark paper ‘Freedom and Resentment’ to argue that loved ones of those with addiction veer between, reactive attitudes of blame and resentment and detached objective stance from which the addicted person is seen as less blameworthy but also as less fit for ordinary interpersonal relationships. The chapter examines how these responses, in turn, shape the addicted person’s view of themselves, their character and their capacities, and provide a negative narrative trajectory that impedes recovery. The dynamic between an addicted person and their friends and family is often an important contributor to the chronicity of addiction. The chapter concludes with a consideration of how these effects might be mitigated by adopting less demanding variations of the participant stance.