Alcoholics Anonymous
Name
Institution
Alcoholics Anonymous
Introduction
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been recognized as a fellowship of mutual aid. Its central plan is to help its members stay sober as they help others who are alcoholics to achieve sobriety. The membership qualification of this organization is the personal desire of a person to stop drinking alcohol since the program is a recovery centered one. The organization is non- professional, and self-supporting since members are willing to support each other through the journey of becoming and staying sober. AA was established in 1935 in Akron-Ohio from just a typical talk between alcoholics, one being Bill Wilson, who contacted the other named Bob smith, and they talked about alcoholism, its effects, and the possible solution. The traditions established by the group require that members should remain anonymous in the public even as they continue with their goal of helping other alcoholics. The AA groups are not allowed to have any affiliations with other organizations, and they do not recommend dogma and coercive chain of command. The membership of AA has grown, and it has spread internationally, and its presence is now felt across diverse cultures with different beliefs and values. As of 2016, AA had a worldwide estimated membership of around two million. The paper talks about Alcoholics Anonymous.
History
The Oxford Group, which is not a denominational movement, is the mother of AA since it sprang from there. Some of the members of the group formed it with the aim of staying sober. Ebby Thacher, the “grouper,” was Wilson’s former drinking buddy and had approached him, saying that he had discovered a religion that was sober and that he would do the same if he could form a personal idea of God and set aside his objections of faith. Though Wilson was drunk and was tired of being ever drunk, he decided to attend the group gathering after some days and was admitted to Charles B. hospital after he had drunk some bottles of beer on the way. That was the last beer he ever drunk. After the hospital, he felt that God was revealing himself to him through a bright flash of light that he experienced while receiving treatment in the hospital. After the discharge, he joined the Oxford Group and recruited other alcoholics so they could get help. Wilson’s efforts in helping others stay sober were ineffective, and his friend Silkworth proposed that he stop stressing so much on religion and try more stressing on science. His first success came when he visited Akron and met Robert Smith, an oxford member, and a surgeon, but could not stay sober. Wilson and Smith worked together for 30 days, and Smith took his last beer on 10th June 1935 and marked a special day on the anniversary of AA. The group started receiving new members, including females, African Americans, and non-protestants.
The Big Book and the Traditions
Wilson and the other group members wrote a book titled “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism” to share their methods. From the title of the book, the group got its name. The book suggests a program with twelve steps through which the members agree that they are more potent than alcohol, and they need power from a higher power that they seek through prayers and meditation. The other half of the book contains personal stories in which they are shared redemptive stories of the early members. Membership and book sales increased through American radio interviews alongside favorable articles in 1941. By 1946, the group had grown with numerous members and therefore quarrels over purpose, authority, and structure made Wilson form and promote what was finally known as the twelve traditions, which were the guidelines to be adopted by the members and included non-affiliation, non-coercive, non- hierarchical, and shunning away from publicity.
Organization and Finances
AA is no formal, nor is it a political organization. Many people thought it could not survive since it had no leadership or a person who could control others and tell them what to do, but it proved otherwise. Its way of governance has helped it to stand strong since it did not religious and political pitfalls due to its “inverted pyramid” governance style. The group in 2018 counted 120,300 groups and over twelve million members globally since the twelve traditions and guidelines hold the organization’s global structure. The group members vote in members who become the leader and is a trusted servant with limited and rotating terms. AA groups independent and support themselves. They rely on voluntary member donations to cater for their expenses. GSO limits AA contributions to 3,000 dollars a year. The group can hire outside professionals if there is a need for specialized expert services.
Program
The program of AA spreads beyond staying sober. The goal is to ensure that enough change happens in the thinking of alcoholics to bring out full recovery from alcoholism through spiritual awakening. Taking the twelve steps is how the members achieve spiritual awakening. Volunteering for the group and attending AA meetings and staying in contact with other members is vital since it helps enhance sobriety. New members are encouraged to find an experienced sponsor who is a fellow alcoholic to fully understand and follow the AA program. The sponsors in AA may charge for the helping sessions and relationships as they help others to change behavior.
Meetings
AA meetings are organized, and they include quasi- ritualized periods which are run for and by the alcoholics. The meetings are informal and are characterized by discussion and voluntary donations issued and collected at the time. The group directories list meetings where some are marked closed, meaning they are only to those who have a personal desire to stop drinking, and no member can stop them. The open meetings are available to everybody, and non-alcoholics can attend as observers. Some sessions are meant to cover specific demographics, such as age, gender, culture, and profession.
Spirituality
A study conducted to find the relationship between increased AA meetings attendance and spirituality found that the meetings were high and increased with an increase in spirituality and a subsequent decrease in alcohol use. It was found that AA was significant in helping agnostics and non-believers to become sober. Spirituality is, therefore, a vital mechanism in ensuring behavior change for most of the alcoholics.
Effectiveness of AA
Studies have produced inconsistent results concerning the effectiveness of AA. Some have suggested that it is effective as they indicate that association with AA has led to a remarkable decrease in abstinence from alcohol and has had other positive outcomes. Other studies suggest that no observable results can be linked to the effectiveness of AA.
Institutions Relationship
Many of the AA meetings occur in hospitals as they bring in the message of how the co-founders of the AA group remained sober. They have discovered the value of working with suffering alcoholics in a bid to help them stay sober. Bill Wilson visited many hospitals in an attempt to help patients who were struggling with alcoholism. Other meetings in America and Canada are held in recreational facilities with the intention of helping the correctional facilities workers who were alcoholics.
Criticism
AA, just like any other organization, has received criticism, and it is referred to as “thirteenth-steeping” in which the members approach the new members for dates. A study confirmed that women were seduced, primarily through guidance when one received it from the opposite gender. Those in pursuit of a sexual company would approach others, but many women report that they feel safe in AA, especially when they hold women-only meetings. The culture of AA has been very welcoming to new female members. Some AA groups have been identified to use disease model approaches on all drinkers. The big book, however, says that moderate drinkers and hard drinkers have the ability to reduce or even stop drinking. One review alleged that the twelve steps philosophy used by AA and other methods were related to cult practices and concluded that AA is cultic. Still, another study revealed that there was a little resemblance of AA to religious cults since the techniques applied seemed beneficial. A group member survey showed that they had a bicultural identity, and the members saw the program to complement the other ethnic, religious, and national cultures that they hold.
Conclusion
AA has spread to many countries has helped reach many alcoholics who are willing to abstain from alcohol and stay sober. It is an organization in which no one is forced to join. Their leadership style is accommodative to new members and ensures that those who have professed their personal desire to leave alcohol get the required help through sponsor guidance and following the group’s set twelve guidelines.
Reference
Glassman, H. S., Rhodes, P., & Buus, N. (2020). A Critical Review of Qualitative Interview Studies with Alcoholics Anonymous Members. Substance Use & Misuse, 55(3), 387-398.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Name
Institution
Alcoholics Anonymous
Introduction
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been recognized as a fellowship of mutual aid. Its central plan is to help its members stay sober as they help others who are alcoholics to achieve sobriety. The membership qualification of this organization is the personal desire of a person to stop drinking alcohol since the program is a recovery centered one. The organization is non- professional, and self-supporting since members are willing to support each other through the journey of becoming and staying sober. AA was established in 1935 in Akron-Ohio from just a typical talk between alcoholics, one being Bill Wilson, who contacted the other named Bob smith, and they talked about alcoholism, its effects, and the possible solution. The traditions established by the group require that members should remain anonymous in the public even as they continue with their goal of helping other alcoholics. The AA groups are not allowed to have any affiliations with other organizations, and they do not recommend dogma and coercive chain of command. The membership of AA has grown, and it has spread internationally, and its presence is now felt across diverse cultures with different beliefs and values. As of 2016, AA had a worldwide estimated membership of around two million. The paper talks about Alcoholics Anonymous.
History
The Oxford Group, which is not a denominational movement, is the mother of AA since it sprang from there. Some of the members of the group formed it with the aim of staying sober. Ebby Thacher, the “grouper,” was Wilson’s former drinking buddy and had approached him, saying that he had discovered a religion that was sober and that he would do the same if he could form a personal idea of God and set aside his objections of faith. Though Wilson was drunk and was tired of being ever drunk, he decided to attend the group gathering after some days and was admitted to Charles B. hospital after he had drunk some bottles of beer on the way. That was the last beer he ever drunk. After the hospital, he felt that God was revealing himself to him through a bright flash of light that he experienced while receiving treatment in the hospital. After the discharge, he joined the Oxford Group and recruited other alcoholics so they could get help. Wilson’s efforts in helping others stay sober were ineffective, and his friend Silkworth proposed that he stop stressing so much on religion and try more stressing on science. His first success came when he visited Akron and met Robert Smith, an oxford member, and a surgeon, but could not stay sober. Wilson and Smith worked together for 30 days, and Smith took his last beer on 10th June 1935 and marked a special day on the anniversary of AA. The group started receiving new members, including females, African Americans, and non-protestants.
The Big Book and the Traditions
Wilson and the other group members wrote a book titled “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism” to share their methods. From the title of the book, the group got its name. The book suggests a program with twelve steps through which the members agree that they are more potent than alcohol, and they need power from a higher power that they seek through prayers and meditation. The other half of the book contains personal stories in which they are shared redemptive stories of the early members. Membership and book sales increased through American radio interviews alongside favorable articles in 1941. By 1946, the group had grown with numerous members and therefore quarrels over purpose, authority, and structure made Wilson form and promote what was finally known as the twelve traditions, which were the guidelines to be adopted by the members and included non-affiliation, non-coercive, non- hierarchical, and shunning away from publicity.
Organization and Finances
AA is no formal, nor is it a political organization. Many people thought it could not survive since it had no leadership or a person who could control others and tell them what to do, but it proved otherwise. Its way of governance has helped it to stand strong since it did not religious and political pitfalls due to its “inverted pyramid” governance style. The group in 2018 counted 120,300 groups and over twelve million members globally since the twelve traditions and guidelines hold the organization’s global structure. The group members vote in members who become the leader and is a trusted servant with limited and rotating terms. AA groups independent and support themselves. They rely on voluntary member donations to cater for their expenses. GSO limits AA contributions to 3,000 dollars a year. The group can hire outside professionals if there is a need for specialized expert services.
Program
The program of AA spreads beyond staying sober. The goal is to ensure that enough change happens in the thinking of alcoholics to bring out full recovery from alcoholism through spiritual awakening. Taking the twelve steps is how the members achieve spiritual awakening. Volunteering for the group and attending AA meetings and staying in contact with other members is vital since it helps enhance sobriety. New members are encouraged to find an experienced sponsor who is a fellow alcoholic to fully understand and follow the AA program. The sponsors in AA may charge for the helping sessions and relationships as they help others to change behavior.
Meetings
AA meetings are organized, and they include quasi- ritualized periods which are run for and by the alcoholics. The meetings are informal and are characterized by discussion and voluntary donations issued and collected at the time. The group directories list meetings where some are marked closed, meaning they are only to those who have a personal desire to stop drinking, and no member can stop them. The open meetings are available to everybody, and non-alcoholics can attend as observers. Some sessions are meant to cover specific demographics, such as age, gender, culture, and profession.
Spirituality
A study conducted to find the relationship between increased AA meetings attendance and spirituality found that the meetings were high and increased with an increase in spirituality and a subsequent decrease in alcohol use. It was found that AA was significant in helping agnostics and non-believers to become sober. Spirituality is, therefore, a vital mechanism in ensuring behavior change for most of the alcoholics.
Effectiveness of AA
Studies have produced inconsistent results concerning the effectiveness of AA. Some have suggested that it is effective as they indicate that association with AA has led to a remarkable decrease in abstinence from alcohol and has had other positive outcomes. Other studies suggest that no observable results can be linked to the effectiveness of AA.
Institutions Relationship
Many of the AA meetings occur in hospitals as they bring in the message of how the co-founders of the AA group remained sober. They have discovered the value of working with suffering alcoholics in a bid to help them stay sober. Bill Wilson visited many hospitals in an attempt to help patients who were struggling with alcoholism. Other meetings in America and Canada are held in recreational facilities with the intention of helping the correctional facilities workers who were alcoholics.
Criticism
AA, just like any other organization, has received criticism, and it is referred to as “thirteenth-steeping” in which the members approach the new members for dates. A study confirmed that women were seduced, primarily through guidance when one received it from the opposite gender. Those in pursuit of a sexual company would approach others, but many women report that they feel safe in AA, especially when they hold women-only meetings. The culture of AA has been very welcoming to new female members. Some AA groups have been identified to use disease model approaches on all drinkers. The big book, however, says that moderate drinkers and hard drinkers have the ability to reduce or even stop drinking. One review alleged that the twelve steps philosophy used by AA and other methods were related to cult practices and concluded that AA is cultic. Still, another study revealed that there was a little resemblance of AA to religious cults since the techniques applied seemed beneficial. A group member survey showed that they had a bicultural identity, and the members saw the program to complement the other ethnic, religious, and national cultures that they hold.
Conclusion
AA has spread to many countries has helped reach many alcoholics who are willing to abstain from alcohol and stay sober. It is an organization in which no one is forced to join. Their leadership style is accommodative to new members and ensures that those who have professed their personal desire to leave alcohol get the required help through sponsor guidance and following the group’s set twelve guidelines.
Reference
Glassman, H. S., Rhodes, P., & Buus, N. (2020). A Critical Review of Qualitative Interview Studies with Alcoholics Anonymous Members. Substance Use & Misuse, 55(3), 387-398.