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[[Image:Figure alcoholicsanonymous ingolstadt.JPG|thumb|250px|right|AA meeting sign]]
'''Alcoholics Anonymous''' ('''AA''') is an international [[Social work with groups#Mutual aid|mutual aid]] movement which was founded in 1935 by [[Bill W.|Bill Wilson]] and [[Bob Smith (doctor)|Dr. Bob Smith]] (Bill W. and Dr. Bob) in [[Akron, Ohio]]. AA says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve [[sobriety]]".<ref>[http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-92_en.pdf AA.org]</ref><ref>Mäkelä 1996, p. 3</ref> With other early members, Wilson and Smith developed AA's [[the Twelve Steps|Twelve Step]] program of spiritual and character development. AA's [[Twelve Traditions]] were introduced in 1946 to help AA stay unified and grow. The Traditions recommend that members and groups remain anonymous in public media, altruistically help other alcoholics and include all who wish to stop drinking. The Traditions also recommend that AA members acting on behalf of the fellowship steer clear of dogma, governing hierarchies and involvement in public issues. Subsequent fellowships such as [[Narcotics Anonymous]] have adopted and adapted the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions to their respective primary purposes.<ref name="TRADITIONS1949">{{cite journal |journal=The A.A. Grapevine |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous |month=November |year=1949 |volume=6 |issue=6 |title=The Twelve Traditions |issn=0362-2584 |oclc=50379271}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Twelve-Step and Mutual-Help Programs for Addictive Disorders|journal=Psychiatric Clinics of North America|volume=22 |issue=2 |page=425 |year=1999 |doi=10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70085-X |pmid=10385942 |last1=Chappel |first1=JN |last2=Dupont |first2=RL |pages=425–46}}</ref>

AA generally avoids discussing the medical nature of [[alcoholism]]; nonetheless AA is regarded as a proponent and popularizer of the [[disease theory of alcoholism]].<ref name="TRADITIONS1949"/><ref>[http://www.peele.net/lib/aaabuse.html Peele.net]</ref><ref name="Alcoholics Anonymous page xxx">''Alcoholics Anonymous'' page xxx</ref><ref name="bhrm.org">[http://www.bhrm.org/papers/AAand%20DiseaseConcept.pdf BHRM.org]</ref> 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.<ref name="APA1980">{{cite journal |title=Substance Abuse: Position Statement |year=1980 |month=December |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |last1=Connelly |first1=John C. |last2=Foster |first2=Douglas L. |last3=Miller |first3=Derek |last4=Riordan |first4=Charles |last5=Weisman |first5=Maxwell N. |url=http://www.psych.org/Departments/EDU/Library/APAOfficialDocumentsandRelated/PositionStatements/198005.aspx |accessdate=2010-01-26 |archivedate=2010-01-26 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5n5GzN67j}}</ref> AA's data states that 64% drop out of AA in their first year,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hindsfoot.org/lorarch.html |title=The 95% First Year Dropout Myth |author=Archer,Loran |date = July 2007|accessdate=15 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="MCINTIRE2000">{{cite journal |last=McIntire |first=Don |title=How Well Does A.A. Work? An Analysis of Published A.A. Surveys (1968–1996) and Related Analyses/Comments |volume=18 |issue=4 |month=December |year=2000 |pages=1–18 |journal=Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly |doi=10.1300/J020v18n04_01}}</ref> but its program is credited with helping many alcoholics achieve and maintain [[sobriety]].<ref name="TIMKO2007">{{cite journal |year=2007 |title=A randomized controlled trial of intensive referral to 12-step self-help groups: One-year outcomes |journal=Drug and Alcohol Dependence |volume=90 |issue=2–3 |month=October |pages=270–279 |doi=10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.04.007 |pmid=17524574 |last1=Timko |first1=C |last2=Debenedetti |first2=A}}</ref>

The first female member Florence Rankin joined AA in 1936,{{cn|date=October 2011}} and the first non-Protestant member, a Roman Catholic, joined in 1939.<ref name="NOTGOD52">Kurtz 1991. pp. 52"</ref> AA membership has since spread "across diverse cultures holding different beliefs and values", including geopolitical areas resistant to [[grassroots|grassroot]] movements.<ref name="TONIGAN2000">{{cite journal|last1=Tonigan |first1=Scott J |last2=Connors |first2=Gerard J |last3=Miller |first3=William R|title=Special Populations in Alcoholics Anonymous |volume=22 |issue=4 |month=December |year=2000|pages=281–285 |journal=Alcohol Health and Research World|url=http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-4/281.pdf |pmid=15706756}}</ref> AA says it has more than 2 million members.

AA's name derived from its first book, informally called "The Big Book", originally titled ''[[The Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous)|Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism]]''

AA meeting attendance is often mandated for DUI offenders even though it has been upheld in a federal court to be unconstitutional under the First Amendment. A number of state Supreme Court and federal circuit court cases--including Arnold v. Tennessee Board of Paroles (1997), Griffin v. Coughlin (New York, 1996), Warner v. Orange County Dep't. of Probation (2nd Cir. 1997), Rauser v. Horn (3rd Cir. 2001), and Kerr v. Farrey (7th Cir. 1996)-- have defined Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other treatment programs based on AA's 12 steps as religious in nature.<ref>http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/jn.aspx</ref>

==Beginnings==
{{Main| History of Alcoholics Anonymous}}

AA sprang from [[The Oxford Group]], a non-denominational movement modeled after first-century Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cheever, Susan |title=My name is Bill: Bill Wilson: his life and the creation of Alcoholics Anonymous |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=2004 |page= 129|isbn=0-7432-0154-X }}</ref> Most Group members ("Groupers") were not concerned with sobriety, but some, such as [[Ebby Thacher]], believed the Group was a critical aid in staying sober. Following the Group's evangelical bent, Thacher sought out former drinking buddy Bill Wilson to tell him he was sober because he had "got religion." Thacher also told Wilson he could get sober too if he set aside his objections to religion and form a personal conception of God, "another power" or "higher power."<ref name="Pass It On, p 117">''Pass It On'', p 117.</ref><ref>Walter HA, ''Soul Surgery'' p. 44 Oxford: The Oxford Group</ref><ref name="NOTGOOD">{{cite book |author=Kurtz, Ernest |title=Not-God: a history of Alcoholics Anonymous |publisher=Hazelden Educational Services |location=Center City, Minn |year=1980 |pages= |isbn=0-89486-065-8 |doi= }}</ref>

Feeling a "kinship of common suffering" and struck that Thacher was sober, Wilson attended his first Group gathering though he was drunk. Within days Wilson admitted himself for the fourth time to the [[Charles B. Towns|Charles B. Towns Hospital]] after stopping on the way to drink four beers – the last time Wilson got drunk. Under the care of [[William Duncan Silkworth|Dr. William Duncan Silkworth]] (an early benefactor of A.A.), Wilson detox included the [[deliriant]] [[Atropa belladonna|belladonna]].<ref>Pittman , Bill "AA the Way it Began" 1988, Glenn Abbey Books</ref> At the hospital in a state of despair Wilson experienced a bright flash of light which he felt to be God revealing himself.<ref name="NOTGOD33">Kurtz 1991. pp. 18–20</ref>

After his hospital discharge, Wilson joined the Oxford Group and recruited other alcoholics to the Group. Wilson's early efforts to help others become sober were ineffective, prompting Dr. Silkworth to suggest that Wilson place less stress on religion and on more on "the science" of treating alcoholism. Wilson's first success came during a business trip to Akron, Ohio, where he was introduced to Dr. Robert Smith, a surgeon and Oxford Group member who was unable to stay sober. After thirty days of working with Wilson, Smith drank his last drink on June 10, 1935, the date marked by AA for its anniversaries.<ref name="NOTGOD33">Kurtz 1991. pp. 33</ref><ref name="NOTGOD16-17">Kurtz 1991. pp. 16–17</ref>

While Wilson and Smith credited their sustained sobriety to working with alcoholics under the auspices of the Oxford Group, a Group associate pastor sermonized against Wilson and his alcoholic Groupers for forming a "secret, ashamed sub-group" engaged in "divergent works".<ref name="NOTGOD16-17"/> By 1937 Wilson separated from the Oxford Group. AA historian Ernest Kurtz explained the split:<ref name="NOTGOD45-46">Kurtz 1991. pp. 45–46</ref>
<blockquote>...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.
</blockquote>

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 retained 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. One legacy not drawn from the Group was anonymity, which came about due to AA wishing 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."<ref name="NOTGOD46-48">Kurtz 1991. pp. 46–8</ref>

==The Big Book, the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions==
In 1937, Wilson and Smith could count 40 alcoholic men they had 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'',<ref>[http://gsowatch.aamo.info/1939/uslaw.htm GSOwatch.aamo.info]</ref> 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 God or [[Higher Power]] 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.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-12_theJackAlexArticle1.pdf |title=Alcoholics Anonymous |date=1 March 1941 |author=Jack Alexander |journal=Saturday Eventing Post |edition=Reprinted in booklet form |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyRPXTQK |isbn=0896381994}}</ref> 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]], 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.<ref name="TRADITIONS1949"/> At the 1955 St. Louis convention in Missouri, Wilson relinquished stewardship of AA to the General Service Conference,<ref>Pass It On 1984, p. 359</ref> as AA grew to millions of members internationally.<ref name="AAFACTFILE"/>

==Organization and finances==
{{Main|Twelve Traditions }}
[[File:Alcoholics Anonymous Regional Service Center by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A regional service center for Alcoholics Anonymous.]]

AA says it is "not organized in the formal or political sense",<ref name="AAFACTFILE">{{cite journal |title=AA Fact File|url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/m-24_aafactfile.pdf |publisher=General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous |year=2007 }}</ref> and Bill Wilson called it a "benign anarchy".<ref>AA Comes Of Age, p. 225</ref> In Ireland, Shane Butler said that AA “looks like it couldn’t survive as there’s no leadership or top-level telling local [[cumann]]s what to do, but it has worked and proved itself extremely robust.” Butler attributed this to "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."<ref>{{cite news | first=Steven | last=Carroll | coauthors= | title=Group avoids politics of alcohol – author | date= 2010-03-03| publisher=http://www.irishtimes.com/ | url =http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0326/1224267100034.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2010-03-30 }}</ref>

In 2006 AA counted 1,867,212 members and 106,202 AA groups worldwide.<ref name="AAFACTFILE">{{cite journal |title=AA Fact File|url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/m-24_aafactfile.pdf |publisher=General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous |year=2007 |accessdate=2008-10-28 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyPPBQuz}}</ref> The Twelve Traditions informally guide how individual AA groups function, and the Twelve Concepts for World Service guide how the organization is structured globally.<ref>{{cite web|title=The A.A. Service Manual Combined with Twelve Concepts for World Services |last=Wilson |first=Bill |authorlink=Bill W. |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/en_bm-31.pdf |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyPpMKt9}}</ref>

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.<ref name="AAFACTFILE"/>

AA groups are self-supporting, relying on voluntary donations from members to cover expenses.<ref name="AAFACTFILE"/> AA GSO limits contributions to US$3,000 a year.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A.A. GSO Guidelines: Finances |url=http://www.aa.org/lang/en/en_pdfs/mg-15_finance.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyQ0kRis |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office}}</ref> Above the group level, AA may hire outside professionals for services that require specialized expertise or full-time responsibilities.<ref name="TRADITIONS1949"/>

AA receives proceeds from books and literature that constitute more than 50% of the income for its General Service Office (GSO).<ref name=GSO2005OPS>{{cite web |url=http://www.aa.org/pics_gen/en_gso07_operresults.jpg |title=GSO 2007 Operating Results |quote=Gross Profit from Literature ~8,6M (57%), Contributions ~$6.5M (43%) |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous General Services Office |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyQeumnF}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aa.org/lang/en/aa_international.cfm?origpage=31 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous : International General Service Offices |work=Alcoholics Anonymous website |accessdate=2009-10-08 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyQO0oho}}</ref>

==Program==
{{See also|Twelve-step program#The Twelve Steps|l1=Twelve-step program: The Twelve Steps}}

The scope of AA's program is much broader than just abstinence from drinking alcohol.<ref name="HUMPHREYS1995"/> Its goal is to effect enough change in the alcoholic's thinking "to bring about recovery from alcoholism"<ref>Bill W. 2002, Appendix II</ref> through a spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening is achieved by following the [[Twelve Steps]],<ref name="THISISAA">{{cite journal |title=This is AA |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-1_thisisaa1.pdf |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous Work Services, Inc |year=1984 |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyMzy9h6}}</ref> and sobriety is furthered by volunteering for AA<ref>[http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-15_Q&AonSpon.pdf AA.org]</ref> and regular AA meeting attendance<ref name="NEWCOMER">{{cite journal |title=A Newcomer Asks.. |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc |year=1980 |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-24_anewcomerask.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyKg9w25 |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12}}</ref> or contact with AA members.<ref name="THISISAA"/> Members are encouraged to find an experienced fellow alcoholic, called a sponsor, to help them understand and follow the AA program. The sponsor should preferably have experience of all twelve of the steps, be the same gender as the sponsored person, and refrain from imposing personal views on the sponsored person.<ref>Questions and Answers on Sponsorship 2005</ref> Following the [[Helper theory|helper therapy principle]], sponsors in AA benefit as much, if not more, from their relationship than do those they sponsor. Helping behaviors correlate with increased abstinence and lower probabilities of binge drinking.<ref name="ZEMORE2004">{{cite journal |author=Zemore, S. E., Kaskutas, L. A., & Ammon, L. N. |year=2004 |title=In 12-step groups, helping helps the helper |journal=Addiction |volume=99 |issue=8 |month=August |pages=1015–1023 |doi=10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00782.x |pmid=15265098}}</ref>

AA's program is an inheritor of [[Counter-Enlightenment]] philosophy. AA shares the view that acceptance of one's inherent limitations is critical to finding one's proper place among other humans and God. Such ideas are described as "Counter-Enlightenment" because they are contrary to the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]'s ideal that humans have the capacity to make their lives and societies a heaven on earth using their own power and reason.<ref name="HUMPHREYS1995">{{cite journal |last=Humphreys |first=Keith |title=World Views of Alcoholics Anonymous, Women for Sobriety, and Adult Children of Alcoholics/Al-Anon Mutual Help Groups |journal=Addiction Research & Theory |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=231–243 |doi=10.3109/16066359509005240 |year=1995 |last2=Kaskutas |first2=Lee Ann}}</ref>

Nevertheless, sociologists David Rudy and Arthur Greil evaluated AA's literature and observed AA meetings for sixteen months. They note that although AA's ideology denies AA is religious in nature, for an AA member to remain sober a high level of commitment is necessary. This commitment is facilitated by a change in the member's [[world view]]. To help members stay sober AA must, they argue, provide an all-encompassing world view while creating and sustaining an atmosphere of transcendence in the organization. To be all-encompassing AA's ideology places an emphasis on tolerance rather than on a narrow religious world view that could make the organization unpalatable to potential members and thereby limit its effectiveness. AA's emphasis on the spiritual nature of its program, however, is necessary to institutionalize a feeling of transcendence. A tension results from the risk that the necessity of transcendence, if taken too literally, would compromise AA's efforts to maintain a broad appeal. As this tension is an integral part of AA, Rudy and Greil argue that AA is best described as a ''quasi-religious organization''.<ref name="RUDY1989">{{cite journal |last1=Rudy |first1=David R. |last2=Greil |first2=Arthur L. |title=Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Religious Organization?: Meditations on Marginality |volume=50 |issue=1 |year=1989 |pages=41–51 |doi=10.2307/3710917 |jstor=3710917 |journal=Sociological Analysis}}</ref>

===Meetings===
AA meetings are "quasi-ritualized therapeutic sessions run by and for, alcoholics".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dimensions of Alcoholics Anonymous: 1935–1965|journal=Substance Use & Misuse |volume=4 |issue=4 |page=509 |year=1969 |doi=10.3109/10826086909062033 |last1=Leach |first1=Barry |last2=Norris |first2=John L. |last3=Dancey |first3=Travis |last4=Bissell |first4=Leclair}}</ref> They are usually informal and often feature discussions. Local AA directories list a variety of weekly meetings. Those listed as "closed" are only for those with "a desire to stop drinking",<ref name="TRADITIONS1949"/> while "open" meetings are available to anyone. At speaker meetings one or two members tell their stories, while discussion meetings allocate the most time for general discussion. Some meetings are devoted to studying and discussing the AA literature. Except for men's and women's meetings, most meetings targeting specific demographics (including newcomers, gays, and young people) do not exclude other alcoholics. While AA has pamphlets that suggest meeting formats,<ref name="AAGROUP">{{cite journal |title=The A.A. Group |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-16_theaagroup.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyO4jmjL}}</ref><ref name="BEGINNERS">{{cite journal |title=Suggestions For Leading Beginners Meetings |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc |url=http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/mu-1_begmeetings.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyOIcOwB}}</ref> groups have the autonomy to hold and conduct meetings as they wish "except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole".<ref name="TRADITIONS1949"/> Different cultures affect ritual aspects of meetings, but around the world "many particularities of the AA meeting format can be observed at almost any A.A. gathering".<ref>Mäkelä 1996, p. 149–150</ref>

===Confidentiality===
<!-- Consider Revising. This source is not of AA World Services. IT is an outside opinion, not factual. -->
US courts have not extended the status of privileged communication, such as that enjoyed by clergy and lawyers, to AA related communications between members.<ref name="COLEMAN2005">{{cite journal | last = Coleman | first = Phyllis | title = Privilege and Confidentiality in 12-Step Self-Help Programs: Believing The Promises Could Be Hazardous to an Addict's Freedom | journal = The Journal of Legal Medicine | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | month = December | year = 2005 | pages = 435–474 | doi = 10.1080/01947640500364713 | issn = 0194-7648 | oclc = 4997813 | pmid = 16303734}}</ref><ref name="HOFFMAN1994">{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Jan |publisher=New York Times |date=15 June 1994 |title=Faith in Confidentiality of Therapy Is Shaken |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/15/nyregion/faith-in-confidentiality-of-therapy-is-shaken.html |accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref>

== Spirituality ==

The spiritual aspect of Alcoholics Anonymous is identified in the core AA literature to be central for achieving and sustaining sobriety.

Recent research findings suggest that AA leads to better alcohol use outcomes, in part, by enhancing individuals’ spiritual practices and provides support for AA’s own emphasis on increasing spiritual practices to facilitate recovery from alcohol use disorder{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}. As attendance of AA meetings increase, so do the participants spiritual beliefs, especially in those individuals who had low spirituality at the beginning of the study.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

The results indicated that there was a robust association between an increase in attendance to AA meetings with increased spirituality and a decrease in the frequency and intensity of alcohol use over time. One of the most interesting aspects of the research was that the same amount of recovery was seen in both agnostics and atheists, which indicates that while spirituality is an important mechanism of behavioral change for AA, it is not the only method used.<ref>Kelly, John F. et al Spirituality in Recovery: A Lagged Mediational Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous’ Principal Theoretical Mechanism of Behavior Change Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Vol. 35, No. 3 March 2011 pp.&nbsp;1–10</ref>

While Alcoholics Anonymous is self-described as a spiritual program, it is neither religious nor affiliated with any particular religious sect. This principle is confirmed in the Tenth Tradition of the [[Twelve Traditions]].

==Disease concept of alcoholism==
{{Main|Disease theory of alcoholism}}

More informally than not, AA's membership has helped popularize the disease concept of alcoholism, though AA officially has had no part in the development of such postulates which had appeared as early as the late eighteenth century.<ref>{{cite book|first=Benjamin|last=Rush|title=Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind|publisher=Bartam|location=Philadelphia|year=1805}}</ref> Though AA initially avoided the term "disease", in 1973 conference-approved literature categorically stated that "we had the disease of alcoholism."<ref>[http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-3_isaaforyou.pdf AA.org]</ref> Regardless of official positions, from AA's inception most members have believed alcoholism to be a disease.<ref name="bhrm.org"/>

Though cautious regarding the medical nature of alcoholism, AA has let others voice opinions. The Big Book states "we are told that alcoholism "is an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer." Ernest Kurtz says this is "The closest the book Alcoholics Anonymous comes to a definition of alcoholism."<ref name="bhrm.org"/> In his introduction to The Big Book, non-member [[William Duncan Silkworth|Dr. William Silkworth]] suggested that those unable to moderate their drinking have an allergy. However, AA said, "The doctor’s theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little."<ref name="Alcoholics Anonymous page xxx"/> In fact AA later acknowledged that "alcoholism is not a true allergy, the experts now inform us."<ref>''Living Sober'' p 68</ref> Wilson explained in 1960 why AA had refrained from using the term "disease":
<blockquote>We AAs have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking, it is not a disease entity. For example, there is no such thing as heart disease. Instead there are many separate heart ailments or combinations of them. It is something like that with alcoholism. Therefore, we did not wish to get in wrong with the medical profession by pronouncing alcoholism a disease entity. Hence, we have always called it an illness or a malady – a far safer term for us to use.<ref>[http://www.nccatoday.org/conversation.htm NCCAtoday.org]</ref></blockquote>

== Canadian and United States demographics ==
AA's New York General Service Office regularly surveys AA members in North America. Its 2004 survey of over 7,500 members in Canada and the United States concluded that, in North America, AA members who responded to the survey were 65% male and 35% female. Average member sobriety is eight years with 36% sober more than ten years, 14% sober from five to ten years, 24% sober from one to five years, and 26% sober less than one year. Before coming to AA, 64% of members received some type of treatment or counseling, such as medical, psychological, or spiritual. After coming to AA, 65% received outside treatment or counseling, and 84% of those members said that that outside help played an important part in their recovery. The same survey showed that AA received 11% of its membership from court ordered attendance.<ref name="ogfaaa">{{cite journal |title=Alcoholics Anonymous 2004 Membership Survey |url=http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/p-48_04survey.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyIHfv6f |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services' General Service Office |year=2005}}</ref>

==Effectiveness==
{{Main|Effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous}}

===Research limitations===
AA tends to polarize observers into believers and non-believers,<ref>Vaillant, 1995, p 255.</ref> and discussion of AA often creates controversy rather than objective reflection.<ref>Vaillant, 1995, p 265.</ref> Moreover, a randomized study of AA is difficult: AA members are not randomly selected from the population of chronic alcoholics, with the possible exception of those who are mandated by courts to attend AA meetings; they are instead self-selected.<ref>Griffith 2002, p. 103–117</ref> There are two opposing types of self-selection bias: (1) drinkers may be motivated to stop drinking before they participate in AA (2) AA may attract the more severe and difficult cases.<ref name="HUMPHREYS2002">{{cite journal | last = Humphreys | first = Keith | journal = Recent Developments in Alcoholism | title = Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Alcoholism Treatment Programs | volume = 16 | publisher = Springer US | doi = 10.1007/b100495 | year = 2002 | pages = 149–164 | pmid = 12638636 | isbn = 978-0-306-47258-9 | last2 = Begleiter | first2 = Henri | last3 = Deitrich | first3 = Richard | last4 = Gallant | first4 = Donald | last5 = Gottheil | first5 = Edward | last6 = Paredes | first6 = Alfonso | last7 = Rothschild | first7 = Marcus | last8 = Theil | first8 = David | last9 = Lagressa | first9 = Dolly | series = Recent Developments in Alcoholism | editor1-last = Galanter | editor1-first = Marc | editor2-last = Begleiter | editor2-first = Henri | editor3-last = Deitrich | editor3-first = Richard | editor4-last = Gallant | editor4-first = Donald}}</ref> [[Scientific control|Controlled experiments]] with AA versus non-AA subjects are also difficult because AA is so easily accessible. Twelve-step groups, like AA, are not conducive to [[Sampling (statistics)#Probability and nonprobability sampling|probability sampling]] of members. Research on AA is therefore susceptible to [[sampling bias]].<ref name="LEVY1979">{{cite book |title=Self-Help Groups for Coping with Crisis |editors=Morton A. Lieberman; Leonard D. Borman |location=San Francisco |publisher=Josey-Bass Publishers |year=1979 |chapter=Processes and Activities in Groups |pages=234–271 |last1=Levy |first=Leon |isbn=0-87589-435-6 |oclc=5491383}}</ref>

===Studies===
Studies of AA's efficacy have produced inconsistent results. While some studies have suggested an association between AA attendance and increased abstinence or other positive outcomes,<ref name="MOOS2006A">{{cite journal | last = Moos | first = Rudolf H. | title = Participation in Treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous: A 16-Year Follow-Up of Initially Untreated Individuals | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | month = June | year = 2006 | pages = 735–750 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.20259 | pmid=16538654 | volume = 62 | last2 = Moos | first2 = BS | issue = 6 | pmc = 2220012}}</ref><ref name="MOOS2006B">{{cite journal | last = Moos | first = Rudolf H. | title = Rates and predictors of relapse after natural and treated remission from alcohol use disorders | journal = Addiction | volume = 101 | issue = 2 | pages = 212–222 | year = 2006 | month = February | doi = 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01310.x | pmid = 16445550 | last2 = Moos | first2 = BS | pmc = 1976118}}</ref><ref name="MOOS2004">{{cite journal | last = Moos | first = Rudolf H. | title = Long-Term Influence of Duration and Frequency of Participation in Alcoholics Anonymous on Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders | journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology | year = 2004 | month = February | volume = 72 | issue = 1 | pages = 81–90 | doi = 10.1037/0022-006X.72.1.81 | pmid=14756617 | last2 = Moos | first2 = BS | pmc = }}</ref><ref name="HUMPHREYS2001">{{cite journal | last = Humphreys | first = Keith | month = May | year = 2001 | title = Can encouraging substance abuse patients to participate in self-help groups reduce demand for health care? A quasi-experimental study | journal = Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research | volume = 25 | issue = 5 | pages = 711–716 | doi = 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02271.x | pmid = 11371720 | issn = 1530-0277 | last2 = Moos | first2 = R}}</ref><ref name="MORGENSTERN1997">{{cite journal |last1=Morgenstern |first1=Jon |last2=Laboview |first2=Erich |last3=McCrady |first3=Barbara S |last4=Kahler |first4=Christopher W |last5=Frey |first5=Ronni M |title=Affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous after treatment: a student of its therapeutic effects and mechanisms of action |journal=Journal of consulting and clinical psychology |volume=65 |issue=5 |month=October |year=1997 |pages=768–888 |pmid=9337496 |doi=10.1037/0022-006X.65.5.768}}</ref><ref name="TONIGAN2001">{{cite journal |title=Benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous Attendance – Replication of Findings Between Clinical Research Sites in Project MATCH |last1=Tonigan |first=J. Scott |journal=Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=1 |year=2001|pages=67–77 |doi=10.1300/J020v19n01_05}}</ref> other studies have not.<ref name="DITMAN1967">{{cite journal |last1=Ditman |first1=Keith S |last2=Crawford |first2=George G |last3=Forgy |first3=Edward W |last4=Moskowitz |first4=Herbert |last5=MacAndrew |first5=Craig |title=A controlled experiment on the use of court probation for drunk arrests |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |volume=124 |issue=2 |month=August |year=1967 |pages=160–163 |pmid=4951569}}</ref><ref name="BRANDSMA1980">{{cite book |title=Outpatient treatment of alcoholism: a review and comparative study |last1=Brandsma |first1=Jeffery M |last2=Maultsby |first2=Maxie C |last3=Welsh |first3=Richard J |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=University Park Press |year=1980 |oclc=5219646 |isbn=0-8391-1393-5}}</ref><ref name="LARIMER1999">{{cite journal | last = Larimer | first = Mary E | title = Relapse prevention. An overview of Marlatt's cognitive-behavioral model | year = 1999 | volume = 23 | issue = 2 | pages = 151–160 | pmid = 10890810 | journal = Alcohol research & health : the journal of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism | issn = 1535-7414 | oclc = 42453373 | last2 = Palmer | first2 = RS | last3 = Marlatt | first3 = GA}}</ref><ref name="STAHLBRANDT2007">{{cite journal |title=Two-Year Outcome of Alcohol Interventions in Swedish University Halls of Residence: A [[Cluster randomized trial|Cluster Randomized Trial]] of a Brief Skills Training Program, Twelve-Step Influenced Intervention, and Controls |doi=10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00327.x |year=2007 |last1=Ståhlbrandt |first1=Henriettæ |last2=Johnsson |first2=Kent O. |last3=Berglund |first3=Mats |journal=Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research |volume=31 |page=458 |pmid=17295731 |issue=3 |pages=458–66}}</ref><ref name="TERRA2008">{{cite journal |title=Do Alcoholics Anonymous Groups Really Work? Factors of Adherence in a Brazilian Sample of Hospitalized Alcohol Dependents |doi=10.1080/10550490701756393 |year=2008 |last1=Terra |first1=Mauro Barbosa |last2=Barros |first2=Helena Maria Tannhauser |last3=Stein |first3=Airton Tetelbom |last4=Figueira |first4=Ivan |last5=Palermo |first5=Luiz Henrique |last6=Athayde |first6=Luciana Dias |last7=Gonçalves |first7=Marcelo de Souza |last8=Da Silveira |first8=Dartiu Xavier |journal=American Journal on Addictions |volume=17 |page=48 |pmid=18214722 |issue=1 |pages=48–53}}</ref> A [[Cochrane Review]] of eight studies, published between 1967 and 2005, measuring the effectiveness of AA, found "no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA" in treating alcoholism, based on a meta-analysis of the results of eight trials involving a total of 3,417 individuals. To determine further the effectiveness of AA, the authors suggested that more studies comparing treatment outcomes with control groups were necessary.<ref name=FERRI2006>{{cite journal | last = Ferri | first = MMF | title = Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programmes for alcohol dependence | journal = Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2006 | issue = 3 | url = http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005032/frame.html | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD005032.pub2 | year = 2006 | last2 = Amato | first2 = Laura | last3 = Davoli | first3 = Marina | last4 = Ferri | first4 = Marica | pmid = 16856072 | pages = CD005032 | editor1-last = Ferri | editor1-first = Marica}}</ref>

===Survey results===
Every third year since 1968, AA has issued a pamphlet summarizing its latest [[wiktionary:triennial|triennial]] survey of meeting attendants. Additional published comments and analysis for academics and professionals have supplemented the survey results from 1970 through 1990.<ref name="MCINTIRE2000"/> The 1990 commentary evaluated data of triennial surveys from 1977 through 1989 and found that one quarter (26%) of those who first attend an AA meeting are still attending after one year. Furthermore, nearly one third (31.5%) leave the program after one month, and by the end of the third month, over half (52.6%) leave.<ref name="AAInternalSurvey"/> After the first year, the rate of attrition slows. Only those in the first year were recorded by month.<ref name="AAInternalSurvey"/> About 40% of the members sober for less than a year will remain another year. About 80% of those sober more than one year, but less than five years will remain sober and active in the fellowship another year. About 90% of the members sober five years or more will remain sober and active in the fellowship another year. Those who remained sober outside the fellowship could not be calculated using the survey results.<ref name="AAInternalSurvey">{{cite journal |title=Comments On A.A. Triennial Surveys |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/3264243/Comments-on-AAs-Triennial-Surveys |month=December |year=1990 |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services}}</ref>

===Health-care costs===
As a volunteer-supported program, AA is free of charge. This contrasts with treatments for alcoholism such as inpatient treatment, drug therapy, psychotherapy and cognitive-based therapy. Still some research has found that institutional use of AA in certain circumstances has reduced health-care expenditures by 45%.<ref name="HUMPHREYS2001">{{cite journal |title=Can encouraging substance abuse patients to participate in self-help groups reduce the demand for continuing outpatient care? A quasiexperimental study |doi=10.1111/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02271.x |year=2001 |last1=Humphreys |first1=Keith |last2=Moos |first2=Rudolf |journal=Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=711 |pmid=11371720 |pages=711–6}}</ref>

==Relationship with institutions==
===Prisons===
In the United States and Canada AA meetings are held in hundreds of correctional facilities. The AA General Service Office has published a workbook with detailed recommendations for methods of approaching correctional-facility officials with the intent of developing an in-prison AA program.<ref name="CORRECTIONS1">{{cite journal |title=Corrections Workbook |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous Word Services, Inc |year=1995 |location=New York, NY |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/m-45i_corrections.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyFWmoKq}}</ref> In addition, AA publishes a variety of pamphlets specifically for the incarcerated alcoholic.<ref name="CORRECTIONS2">{{cite web |title=Corrections Catalog |url=http://www.aa.org/subpage.cfm?page=249 |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyFe00Dd |quote=The titles include: ''Carrying the Message into Correctional Facilities, Where Do I Go From Here?, A.A. in Prison: Inmate to Inmate, A.A. in Correctional Facilities, It Sure Beats Sitting in a Cell, Memo to an Inmate Who May be an Alcoholic, A Message to Corrections Administrators''}}</ref> Additionally, the AA General Service Office provides a pamphlet with guidelines for members working with incarcerated alcoholics.<ref name="GUIDELINES">{{cite journal |title=AA Guidelines from GSO: Cooperating with Court, DWI and Similar Programs |url=http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/mg-05_coopwithcourt.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyFnXpLK |accessdate=2009-12-12 |archivedate=2009-12-12}}</ref>

===United States Court rulings===
United States courts have ruled that inmates, parolees, and probationers cannot be ordered to attend AA. Though AA itself was not deemed a religion, it was ruled that it contained ''enough'' religious components (variously described in ''GRIFFIN v. COUGHLIN'' below as, inter alia, "religion", "religious activity", "religious exercise") to make coerced attendance at AA meetings a violation of the [[Establishment Clause]] of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] of the constitution.<ref name="NYCTAP">{{cite web |title=IN THE MATTER OF DAVID GRIFFIN, APPELLANT, v. THOMAS A. COUGHLIN III, AS COMMISSIONER OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, ET AL., RESPONDENTS |year=1996 |url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I96_0137.htm |unused_data=Court of Appeals: State of New York}}</ref><ref name="HONEYMAR1997">{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1123367 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous As a Condition of Drunk Driving Probation: When Does It Amount to Establishment of Religion |journal=Columbia Law Review |year=1997 |volume=97 |issue=2 |author=Honeymar, |page=437 |jstor=1123367 |pages=437–472}}</ref> In September 2007, [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]] stated that a parole office can be sued for ordering a parolee to attend AA.<ref name="EGELKO2007">{{cite news | last = Egelko | first = Bob | title = Appeals court says requirement to attend AA unconstitutional | date = 8 September 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-08 |archivedate=2009-12-12 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyGIFiqE | publisher = San Francisco Chronicle | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/08/BA99S1AKQ.DTL}}</ref><ref name="INOUYEVKEMNA">{{cite court |litigants=Inouye v. Kemna |vol=504 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=705 |pinpoint=11889 |court=9th Cir. |year=2007 |url=http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/09/07/0615474.pdf}}</ref>

===American treatment industry===
In 1949 the [[Hazelden]] treatment center was founded by AA members, and since then many alcoholic rehabilitation clinics have often incorporated AA's precepts into their treatment programs.<ref>Roberson 1988, p. 220</ref> 31% of AA's membership results from treatment centers referrals.<ref name = "ogfaaa"/>

=== United Kingdom treatment industry ===
A cross-sectional survey of substance-misuse treatment providers in the West Midlands found fewer than 10% integrated twelve-step methods in their practice and only a third felt their consumers were suited for Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous membership. Less than half were likely to recommend self-help groups to their clients. Providers with nursing qualification were more likely to make such referrals than those without. A statistically significant correlation was found between providers' self-reported level of spirituality and their likelihood of recommending AA or NA.<ref name="DAY2005">{{cite journal |year=2005 |title=United Kingdom substance misuse treatment workers' attitudes toward 12-step self-help groups |journal=Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment |volume=29 |issue=4 |month=December |pages=321–327 |doi=10.1016/j.jsat.2005.08.009 |pmid=16311185 |last1=Day |first1=E |last2=Gaston |first2=RL |last3=Furlong |first3=E |last4=Murali |first4=V |last5=Copello |first5=A}}</ref>

==Criticism==
{{See also|Twelve-step program#Criticism|l1=Twelve-step program: Criticism}}

===Moderation or abstinence===
:''For more details on this topic, see [[Alcoholism#Management|Alcoholism: Management]]

[[Stanton Peele]] argued that some AA groups apply the [[Disease model of addiction|disease model]] to all problem drinkers, whether or not they are "full-blown" alcoholics.<ref>Peele 1989</ref> Along with Nancy Shute, Peele has advocated that besides AA, other options should be available to problem drinkers who can manage their drinking with the right treatment.<ref name="SHUTE1997">{{cite journal | last = Shute | first = Nancy | title = The drinking dilemma: by calling abstinence the only cure, we ensure that the nation's $100 billion alcohol problem won't be solved | journal = [[U.S. News & World Report]] | volume = 123 | issue = 9 | month = September | year = 1997 | pages = 54–64 |url=http://silkworth.net/magazine_newspaper/us_news_world_report_sep_8_1997.html}}</ref> The Big Book, however, acknowledges "moderate drinkers" and "a certain type of hard drinker" are able to stop or moderate their drinking. The Big Book suggests no program for these drinkers, but instead seeks to help drinkers without "power of choice in drink."<ref>''Alcoholics Anonymous'' page 20-1,24</ref>

===Cultural identity===
One review of AA warned of detrimental [[wiktionary:iatrogenic|iatrogenic]] effects of twelve-step philosophy and concluded that AA uses many methods that are also used by cults.<ref name="ALEXANDER1984">{{cite journal | last1 = Alexander | first1 = Francesa |first2 = Michele |last2 = Rollins | year = 1985 | title = Alcoholics Anonymous: the unseen cult | journal = California Sociologist | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 33–48 | issn = 0162-8712 | oclc = 4025459 | location = Los Angeles | publisher =[[California State University]] |url=http://www.silkworth.net/sociology/Soc63OCR.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lyBcw4EM |archivedate=2009-12-12 |accessdate=2009-12-12}}</ref> A subsequent study concluded, however, that AA's program bore little resemblance to religious cults because the techniques used appeared beneficial.<ref name="WRIGHT1997">{{cite journal |title=Shared Ideology in Alcoholics Anonymous: A Grounded Theory Approach |doi=10.1080/108107397127806 |year=1997 |last1=Right |first1=Kevin B. W |journal=Journal of Health Communication |volume=2 |page=83 |pmid=10977242 |issue=2 |pages=83–99}}</ref> Another study found that the AA program's focus on admission of having a problem increases deviant [[Stigma (sociological theory)|stigma]] and strips members of their previous [[cultural identity]], replacing it with the deviant identity.<ref name="LEVINSON1983">{{cite journal | last = Levinson | first = D. | year = 1983 | journal = Recent Developments in Alcoholism | title = Current status of the field: An anthropological perspective on the behavior modification treatment of alcoholism | pages = 255–261 | location = New York | publisher = Plenum Press | volume = 1 | editor = Galanter, Marc | issn = 0738-422X | pmid = 6680227}}</ref> A survey of group members, however, found they had a [[Biculturalism|bicultural]] identity and saw AA's program as a complement to their other national, ethnic, and religious cultures.<ref>Wilcox 1998, p. 109–124</ref>

===Other criticisms===
<!-- "Thirteenth Stepping" redirects to this section -->
*"Thirteenth-stepping" is a pejorative term for AA members approaching new members for dates or sex. The ''Journal of Addiction Nursing'' reported that 50% of the women that participated in a survey (55 in all) experienced 13-stepping behavior from others.<ref name="BOGART2003">{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Addictions Nursing: A Journal for the Prevention and Management of Addictions |title='13th-Stepping:' Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Not Always a Safe Place for Women |last=Bogart |first=Cathy J. |year=2003 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=43–47 |doi=10.1080/10884600305373 |issn=1548-7148 |oclc=34618968 |last2=Bogart |first2=Cathy J.}}</ref> To avoid this type of behavior, AA suggests that typically men be sponsored by men and women be sponsored by women.<ref>Questions and Answers on Sponsorship, page 10. 2005.</ref>

*In 1964 Arthur H. Cain – by his own count – had attended over 500 AA meetings since 1947. Cain insisted that "I do not suggest for a moment that a single A.A. quit the fellowship. On the contrary, I strongly urge sticking with it. To anyone who is having trouble with alcohol I say: try A.A. first; it's the answer for most people". Even so Cain thought that AA had become the domain of irreligious misfits "Dogmatic and opinionated in their nonbeliefs", who scorned other societies such as [[Kiwanis|the Kiwanis Club]]. Cain said AA had come to rely heavily on dogmatic slogans and the group. Without referencing or fashioning a definition of the term, Cain called AA a "cult" and "a hindrance to research, psychiatry, and to many alcoholics who need a different kind of help".<ref name="CAIN1963">[http://harpers.org/archive/1963/02/0014211 Harpers.org]</ref>

==Literature {{anchor|AA Grapevine}}==
<!-- AA Grapevine Redirects here-->

Alcoholics Anonymous publishes several books, reports, pamphlets and other media, including a periodical known as the ''AA Grapevine''.<ref name="AASEARCHRESULTS">A [[Worldcat]] search for materials authored by [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAlcoholics+Anonymous.&qt=hot_author Alcoholics Anonymous] and more specific divisions of the organization ([http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAlcoholics+Anonymous.&qt=hot_author AA Grapevine], [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAlcoholics+Anonymous+World+Services%2C+inc.&qt=hot_author World Services], [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAlcoholics+Anonymous.+General+Service+Conference.&qt=hot_author General Service Conference], [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAlcoholics+Anonymous.+World+Service+Meeting&qt=hot_author World Service Meeting]) yields well over 500 results.</ref> Two books are used primarily: ''Alcoholics Anonymous'' (the "Big Book") and ''Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions'', the latter explaining AA's fundamental principles in depth.

* {{cite book | last = Alcoholics Anonymous | title = Alcoholics Anonymous | publisher = Alcoholics Anonymous World Services | date = June 1, 1976 | isbn = 0-916856-59-3 | oclc = 2353981 | url = http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/}}
* {{cite book | last = Alcoholics Anonymous | title = Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions | publisher = Alcoholics Anonymous World Services | date = February 10, 2002 | isbn = 0-916856-01-1 | oclc = 13572433 | author = Alcoholics Anonymous.}}
* {{cite journal |journal=The A.A. Grapevine |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous |issn=0362-2584 |oclc=50379271 |url=http://www.aagrapevine.org/index.php |title= Index}}

==AA in film==
Films about Alcoholic Anonymous
*''[[My Name Is Bill W.]]'' – dramatized biography of co-founder Bill Wilson
*''[[When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story]]'' – a 2010 film about the wife of founder Bill Wilson, and the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous and [[Al-Anon]].
Films where primary plot line includes AA
*''[[When a Man Loves a Woman (film)|When a Man Loves a Woman]]'' – an airline pilot's wife attends AA meetings in a residential treatment facility
*''[[Clean and Sober]]'' – a cocaine addict visits an AA meeting to get a sponsor

*''[[Days of Wine and Roses (film)|Days of Wine and Roses]]'' – a 1962 film about a married couple struggling with alcoholism. [[Jack Lemmon|Jack Lemmon's]] character attends an AA meeting in the film.

*''Drunks'' – a 1995 film starring Richard Lewis as an alcoholic who leaves an AA meeting and relapses. The film cuts back and forth between his eventual relapse and the other meeting attendants.

*''[[Come Back, Little Sheba]]'' – A 1952 film based on a play of the same title about a loveless marriage where the husband played by [[Burt Lancaster]] is an alcoholic who gets help from 2 members of the local AA chapter. A 1977 TV drama was also based on the play.

*''[[I'll Cry Tomorrow]]'' – A 1955 film about singer [[Lillian Roth]] played by [[Susan Hayward]] who goes to AA to help her stop drinking.
*''[[You Kill Me]]'' - a 2007 crime-comedy film starring [[Ben Kingsley]] as a mob hit man with a drinking problem who is forced to accept a job at a mortuary and go to AA meetings, where he explains he wants to be free of his drinking problem because it is affecting his ability to kill effectively.
Minor references to AA within film
*''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'' - Barney and a few other people were drinking coffee at the local AA when a book is thrown in from the book club.
*''[[The Answer Man (film)|The Answer Man]]'' – AA meeting at 0:59 ("burning desire", "newcomer")
Television episodes and made-for-TV dramas
*''[[My Zinc Bed (television film)|My Zinc Bed]]'' – A 2008 TV Drama, the antagonist challenges the protagonist Paul, an AA member, that AA makes Paul dependant on the group.
*"[[Knots Landing]]" - the two-part Season One finale ''Bottom Of The Bottle'' (1980) is an account of Gary Ewing's relapse into alcoholism, culminating in his attendance at an AA meeting. His attendance of AA meetings is referenced several times over the course of the series, and we actually see his attendance at meetings and his relationship with his sponsor and potential sponsee in the second season.
*''[[The Morning After]]'' – a 1974 made for television movie starring Dick van Dyke as a successful business and family man whose drinking progressively worsens to the point of no control.
*"[[Desperate Housewives]]"*(Starting season 2) Bree Van de Kamp has a drinking problem, after falling down in the yard drunk (among other incidents) she decides to attend AA meetings

==See also==
* [[Addiction recovery groups]]
* [[Alcoholism]]
* [[List of twelve-step groups]]
* [[Recovery model]]
* [[Self-help groups for mental health]]
* [[Stepping Stones (home)]]
* [[Substance abuse]]
* [[Washingtonian movement]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{Cite document |author=Bill W. |title=Alcoholics Anonymous: the story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism |year=1955 |edition=2nd |location=New York, New York |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services |oclc=269381 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}
* {{cite book | title = Alcoholics Anonymous: the story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism | publisher = Alcoholics Anonymous World Services | year = 2002 | edition = 4th | location = New York, New York | isbn = 1-893007-16-2 | oclc = 408888189 |url=http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/ |author=Bill W.}}
* {{cite book | last = Edwards | first = Griffith | authorlink = Griffith Edwards | title = Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug | publisher = Thomas Dunne Books | edition = 1st | month = April | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-312-28387-3 | oclc = 48176740}}
* {{cite book |title=Alcoholics Anonymous as a mutual-help movement: a study in eight societies |author=Klaus Mäkelä |coauthors=World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. et al |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wis |oclc=33242907 |isbn=0-299-15000-3 |year=1996}}
* {{cite book |title=Silkworth: the little doctor who loved drunks |last=Mitchel |first=Dale |location=Center City, Minn |publisher=Hazelden |year=2002 |isbn=1-56838-794-6 |oclc=51063745}}
* {{cite web |title=aaspeak: www.aaspeak.com |last=Speak |first=Darius |location=online |host=godaddy |year=2009}}
* {{cite book|title=Pass It on: The Story of Bill Wilson and how the A.A. Message Reached the World |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. |location=New York, NY |month=December |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-916856-12-0 |oclc=12308065}}
* {{cite book |last=Peele |first=Stanton |title=The Diseasing of America: how we allowed recovery zealots and the treatment industry to convince us we are out of control |location=San Francisco |publisher=Jossey-Bass |year=1999 |oclc=39605271 |isbn=0-7879-4643-5}}
* {{cite journal |title=Questions & Answers on Sponsorship |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc |year=2005 |url=http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-15_Q&AonSpon.pdf |accessdate=2009-12-15 |archivedate=2009-12-15 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5m2vnLSW0}}
* {{cite book | first=Nan |last=Roberson |title=Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1988 |isbn=0-688-06869-3 |oclc=17260252}}
* {{cite book |last=Vaillant |first=George E. |authorlink=George Eman Vaillant |title=[[The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited]] |location=Cambridge, Mass |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1995 |oclc=31605790 |isbn=0-674-60377-X}}
* {{cite book | last = Wilcox | first = D.M. | title = Alcoholic thinking: Language, culture, and belief in Alcoholics Anonymous | year = 1998 | location = [[Westport, CT]] | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn = 0-275-96049-8}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Alcoholics Anonymous}}
* [http://www.aa.org/ AA official website]
* [http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/ AA Great Britain and English speaking continental Europe official website]
* [http://www.myaagrapevines.org/ A Private Collection Of Images Of AA Material]
* [http://www.aagsoindia.org/ Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office (India)]

{{Alcohealth}}

[[Category:Alcohol abuse]]
[[Category:Alcoholics Anonymous| ]]
[[Category:Addiction and substance abuse organizations]]
[[Category:Twelve-step programs]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1935]]
[[Category:International non-profit organizations]]
[[Category:Therapeutic community]]

[[bg:Анонимни алкохолици]]
[[ca:Alcohòlics Anònims]]
[[da:Anonyme Alkoholikere]]
[[de:Anonyme Alkoholiker]]
[[et:Anonüümsed Alkohoolikud]]
[[es:Alcohólicos Anónimos]]
[[eo:Alkoholuloj Anonimaj]]
[[fa:الکلی‌های گمنام]]
[[fr:Alcooliques anonymes]]
[[ga:Na hAlcólaigh gan Ainm]]
[[gl:Alcólicos Anónimos]]
[[ko:익명의 알코올 중독자들]]
[[hr:Anonimni Alkoholičari]]
[[id:Alcoholics Anonymous]]
[[iu:ᐃᒥᐊᓗᒃᑕᐃᓕᒪᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᖃᑎᒌᒡᕕᒃ]]
[[is:AA-samtökin]]
[[it:Alcolisti Anonimi]]
[[he:אלכוהוליסטים אנונימיים]]
[[lt:Anoniminiai alkoholikai]]
[[hu:Anonim Alkoholisták]]
[[ml:ആൽക്കഹോളിക്സ് അനോണിമസ്]]
[[nl:Anonieme Alcoholisten]]
[[ja:アルコホーリクス・アノニマス]]
[[no:Anonyme alkoholikere]]
[[pl:Anonimowi Alkoholicy]]
[[pt:Alcoólicos Anónimos]]
[[ru:Анонимные алкоголики]]
[[szl:Anůńimowe Alkoholiki]]
[[sr:Анонимни алкохоличари]]
[[sh:Anonimni Alkoholičari]]
[[fi:AA-liike]]
[[sv:Anonyma Alkoholister]]
[[tr:Adsız Alkolikler]]
[[uk:Спільнота анонімних алкоголіків]]
[[zh:匿名戒酒會]]

Revision as of 02:57, 9 March 2012

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