This book continues the series of reviews of research advances first published in 1974. The editors' aim here is to present critical and integrative reviews by internationally recognized scholars of areas in which there has been much recent research. In this task we have been greatly helped by the staff of Plenum Press and the Advisory Panel listed at the front of this volume. Several members of the Panel have retired: Dr. W.M.D. Paton, Dr. K. Bruun, Dr. K.F. Killam, and Dr. J .R. Seeley. Dr. Klaus Makela has accepted our invitation to join the Panel. Unfortunately, one member of the Panel, Professor William McGlothlin, died as a result of a tragic accident. He was a gifted and sensitive researcher. His work over many years was well known to those studying alcohol and drug problems. We want to acknowledge his contributions to the Research Advances Series and to the field in general. The editors wish to acknowledge the help of Julliana Newell Ayoub in preparation of this volume. This volume contains three papers by H. Fingarette, R. Room, and B. Kissin, on "The Disease Concept." They were originally prepared for an earlier volume but could not be included because of scheduling problems. The editors, and not the authors, are responsible for this delay. Because they are primarily philosophical and theoretical in nature they are not diminished in value by the lesser number of references to recent research.