Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid The group process contains the secret of collective life, it is the key to democracy, it is the master lesson for every individual to learn, it is our chief hope for the political, the social, the international life of the future movement claiming more than 2 million members and declaring its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety".[1][2] AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson Wilson achieved sobriety on December 11, 1934 and maintained it throughout his remaining 36 years. Despite the success and notoriety afforded him by the accomplishments and growth of AA under his leadership, he continued to suffer from episodes of depression, the most serious of these between 1944 and 1955. In 1955 Wilson turned over control of AA and Dr. Bob Smith Robert Holbrook Smith was an American physician and surgeon who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson, more commonly known as Bill W. He was also known as Dr. Bob (Bill W. and Dr. Bob) in Akron, Ohio. Along with other early members, Wilson and Smith developed AA's program of spiritual and character development, the Twelve Steps A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous as a method of recovery from alcoholism, the Twelve Steps were first published in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred. The Twelve Traditions The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the Traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the are AA's recommendations for its groups, stressing anonymity, altruism, and inclusion of all who want to stop drinking. The Traditions also recommend that AA groups try to steer clear of dogma, affiliation with other entities, internal governing hierarchies and involvement in public issues. Subsequent fellowships, such as Narcotics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous is a twelve-step program of recovery from drug addiction, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It describes itself as a nonprofit "fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem", and it is the second-largest 12-step organization. As of 2007[update] there were more than 43,900 NA, have adapted the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions.[3][4]
Protestant-only until a Catholic joined in 1939,[5] AA membership has since grown and spread "across diverse cultures holding different beliefs and values", including geopolitical areas resistant to grassroot A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many movements.[6]
Although AA views discussions on the medical nature of alcoholism as beyond its scope, AA is regarded as a proponent and popularizer of the disease theory of alcoholism The modern disease theory of alcoholism states that problem drinking is sometimes caused by a disease of the brain, characterized by altered brain structure and function. The existence of alcoholism as a disease is widely accepted within the medical and scientific communities, although critics exist.[3][7][8][9] The American Psychiatric Association has recommended sustained treatment in conjunction with AA's program, or similar community resources, for chronic alcoholics unresponsive to brief treatment.[10] AA's own data state that 64% drop out of AA in their first year,[11][12] but its program is credited with helping many alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety.[13]
AA's name derived from its first book titled Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism The Big Book – so named because of its relative size - is more formally known as Alcoholics Anonymous. It was first published in 1939. The main authors are the two founders of Alcoholics Anonymous William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith (Dr. Bob) (The subtitle was later updated to say "...Many Thousands of Men and Women...") Informally called "the Big Book", it describes AA's program, details its early history, and contains brief autobiographical sketches of AA members.
Oxford Group beginnings
Main article: History of Alcoholics Anonymous The history of Alcoholics Anonymous has been documented in books, movies, and AA literature from its founding in 1935 as a solution for alcoholism by Bill Wilson (known as Bill W.) and Dr. Robert Smith (known as Dr. Bob), through early struggles and worldwide growthAA sprang from The Oxford Group The group was unlike other forms of evangelism in that it targeted and directed its efforts to the "up and outers": the elites and wealthy of society. It made use of publicity regarding its prominent converts, and was caricatured as a "Salvation Army for snobs." Buchman's message did not challenge the status quo and thus aided, a non-denominational movement modeled on first-century Christianity.[14] Group members ("Groupers") were not primarily focused on sobriety, but those such as Ebby Thacher Edwin Throckmorton Thacher (commonly known as Ebby Thacher or Ebby T.), was an old drinking friend of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. He is credited with introducing Wilson to the initial principles that AA would soon develop, such as "one alcoholic talking to another," and the Jungian thesis which was passed along to found the group's principles an aid in staying sober. Thacher recruited former drinking buddy Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker, saying he was sober because he "got religion" and that Wilson could do likewise by setting aside his objections to organized religion and forming a personal conception of "God", "another power", or a "higher power".[15]
Wilson felt that he and Thacher "shared a kinship of common suffering", and within a week of meetings with him, Wilson stopped drinking. Following Thacher's example, Wilson sought out other alcoholics and on a business trip to Akron, Ohio, was introduced to Dr. Bob Smith, a Grouper who was unable to stay sober as such. After thirty days of working with Wilson, Smith had his last drink on June 10, 1935, the date marked by AA for its anniversaries.[16][17]
While Wilson and Smith credited working with alcoholics under the auspices of the group for their sustained sobriety, a Group associate pastor sermonized against them for forming a "secret, ashamed sub-group" engaged in "divergent works".[16] By 1937 Wilson separated from the Oxford Group to help form Alcoholics Anonymous. AA historian Ernest Kurtz explained the split:[18]
"...more and more, Bill discovered that new adherents could get sober by believing in each other and in the strength of this group. Men [no women were members yet] who had proven over and over again, by extremely painful experience, that they could not get sober on their own had somehow become more powerful when two or three of them worked on their common problem. This, then—whatever it was that occurred among them–was what they could accept as a power greater than themselves. They did not need the Oxford Group."
In 1955 Wilson acknowledged AA's debt, saying "The Oxford Groupers had clearly shown us what to do. And just as importantly, we learned from them what not to do." Among the Oxford Group practices AA maintained were informal gatherings, a "changed-life" developed through "stages", and working with others for no material gain. AA's analogs for these are meetings, the steps, and sponsorship. Anonymity came about as AA wished to avoid the publicity-seeking practices of the Oxford Group and to not promote, Wilson said, "erratic public characters who through broken anonymity might get drunk and destroy confidence in us." [19]
The Big Book, the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions
In 1937, Wilson and Smith could count 40 alcoholic men they helped to get sober, and two years later they counted 100 members, including one woman. To promote the fellowship, Wilson and other members wrote the initially-titled book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism,[20] from which AA drew its name. Informally known as "The Big Book" (with its first 164 pages virtually unchanged since the 1939 edition), it suggests a twelve-step program in which members admit that they are powerless over alcohol and need help from a "higher power"; seek guidance and strength through prayer and meditation from a God (or Higher Power Higher Power is a term coined in the 1930s in Alcoholics Anonymous and is used in other twelve-step programs. It is also sometimes referred to as a power greater than ourselves and is frequently abbreviated to HP) of their own understanding; take a moral inventory with care to include resentments; list and become ready to remove character defects; list and make amends to those harmed, and then try to help other alcoholics recover. The second half of the book, "Personal Stories" (subject to additions, removal and retitling in subsequent editions), is made of AA members' redemptive autobiographical sketches.
In 1941, interviews on American radio and favorable articles in US magazines, including a piece by Jack Alexander in The Saturday Evening Post, led to increased book sales and membership.[21] By 1946, as the growing fellowship quarreled over structure, purpose, and authority, as well as finances and publicity, Wilson began to form and promote what became known as AA's Twelve Traditions The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the Traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the, guidelines for an altruistic, unaffiliated, non-coercive, and non-hierarchical structure that limited AA's purpose to only helping alcoholics on a non-professional level while shunning publicity. Eventually he gained formal adoption and inclusion of the Twelve Traditions in all future editions of the Big Book.[3] At the 1955 St. Louis convention in Missouri, Wilson relinquished stewardship of AA to the General Service Conference,[22] as AA grew to millions of members internationally.[23]
Organization and finances
Main article: Twelve Traditions The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the Traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the A regional service center for Alcoholics Anonymous.AA says it is "not organized in the formal or political sense",[23] and Bill Wilson called it a "benign anarchy". [24] In Ireland Shane Butler reported that AA is an import that “looks like it couldn’t survive as there’s no leadership or top-level telling local cumanns A cumann is the lowest local unit or branch of a number of Irish political parties. The term cumann may also be used to describe a non-political association what to do, but it has worked and proved itself extremely robust.” Butler added that "the AA’s 'inverted pyramid' style of governance has helped it to avoid many of the pitfalls that political and religious institutions have encountered since it was established here in 1946."[25]
In 2006 AA counted 1,867,212 members and 106,202 AA groups worldwide.[23] The Twelve Traditions informally guide how individual AA groups function, and the Twelve Concepts for World Service guide how the organization is structured globally.[26]
A member who accepts a service position or an organizing role is a "trusted servant" with terms rotating and limited, typically lasting three months to two years and determined by group vote and the nature of the position. Each group is a self-governing entity with AA World Services acting only in an advisory capacity. AA is served entirely by alcoholics, except for seven "nonalcoholic friends of the fellowship" of the 21-member AA Board of Trustees.[23]
AA groups are self-supporting, relying on voluntary donations from members to cover expenses.[23] AA GSO limits contributions to US$3,000 a year.[27] Above the group level, AA may hire outside professionals for services that require specialized expertise or full-time responsibilities.[3]
AA receives proceeds from books and literature that constitute more than 50% of the income for its General Service Office (GSO).[28] Unlike individual groups, the GSO is not self-supporting and maintains a small salaried staff. It also maintains service centers which coordinate activities such as printing literature, responding to public inquiries, and organizing conferences. They are funded by local members and responsible to the AA groups they represent. Other International General Service Offices (Australia, Costa Rica, Russia, etc.) are independent of AA World Services in New York.[29]
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:09:27 GMT+00:00
Washington Post (blog) Their discussion today centers on Kathleen Parker's argument that the gathering was right out of the Alcoholics Anonymous playbook. ... Faithful Hooked on '12-Step' Beck Newser A Brief History of Glenn Beck allvoices New CNN host bashes Beck's past alcoholism Daily Mail - Charleston (blog)
