In recent years there has been much attention given to the ‘Rat Park’ experiment as a means for explaining some of the determinants of drug and alcohol use.

At the time research undertaken by Dr Bruce Alexander aimed to debunk some of the myths around addiction. Whilst successful in this worthwhile endeavour unintentionally the experiment perpetuated unhelpful stereotypes about the motivation for problematic drug and alcohol use.

YoDAA believes that there is no specific reason for Drug and Alcohol use and that young people develop drug and alcohol problems for lots of different reasons. 

An interesting article explores some of the myths that the ‘Rat Park’ research perpetuates as well as redefining the complexity of contemporary drug and alcohol use.