Bridging Consensus and Conflict Theory in Drug Use Research: A “Unified” Theoretic Perspective

The literature on drinking and drug use exhibits considerable fragmentation due to many researchers' practice of concentrating exclusively upon the use of a single substance, thus producing separate literatures specific to different drugs. Fragmentation of the literature has been further compounded by the use of distinct and incompatible theoretic perspectives which guide research efforts, and by the lack of attention to theoretic issues. A new theoretical perspective, a “unified perspective,” is presented here and proposed as a common theoretical framework for researchers working in any substantive area of drug use. This perspective seeks to bridge conflict and consensus theory, and proposes a resolution of problems arising from several limitations and biases associated with these theoretical positions. An empirical application of the unified perspective is offered in support of its applicability and usefulness to drug use research.