A Study On Alcoholics Anonymous Essay - 1459 Words

Alcoholics Anonymous has held an almost sacred spot in our society as the way for addicts to get sober through spiritual means, with many people having anecdotal stories and experiences corroborating this belief. To full examine the ethicality of AA, an in depth look at AA is required. A study of its history, a description of the program, the success rates and commonly held harmful beliefs of AA, alternatives to AA, and finally an analysis using Rawl’s Theory of Justice are all required in order to fully judge whether the program is ethical or not. Considering all these factors, AA’s domination of the treatment of addicts and alcoholics is immoral and our approach to addiction itself needs a complete overhaul, with full consideration of science and not spirituality alone. In order to understand AA fully, one needs to first examine its history. Before AA, alcoholics and addicts were treated very harshly. Alcoholics were viewed as morally deficient and lacked the willpowe r to just stop drinking. When asked by an alcoholic whether there would be any hope of his recovery, the psychiatrist Carl Jung responded â€Å"No, there is none – except that some people with your problem have recovered if they have had a transforming experience of the spirit† (Bob P. 1993). Jung was saying that alcoholics are hopeless unless they have a spiritual experience, which he went on to say happened very, very rarely. Thus, alcoholics and addicts were thrown into jails and sanitariums, and were leftShow MoreRelated Field Study At Alcoholics Anonymous Essay1065 Words   |  5 PagesField Study At Alcoholics Anonymous On Wednesday March 15 and 22 I attended meetings of the Serentiy Group, a local meeting group of Alcoholics Anonymous that were held at the Congregational Church in East Bridgewater. The meetings started around 8:00 pm and went until each member was given the opportunity to speak, or to share their feelings in some way. There was a total of 15 people present, including myself and my companion. The group was primarily made up of males, there was oneRead MoreCompulsive Gambling Is The Presence Of Withdrawal777 Words   |  4 Pages One aspect common in most addictions and not in compulsive gambling is the presence of withdrawal. Some gamblers do claim they experience withdrawal symptoms. Rosenthal and Lesieur (1992) conducted a study on self-reported withdrawal symptoms of gambling. The study consisted of 222 participants. Sixty-five percent of participants reported experiencing at least one of the following: insomnia, headaches, upset stomach, loss of appetite, physical weakness, palpitations, shaking, cramps, difficultyRead MoreA 12-Step Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous: A Reaction Paper841 Words   |  3 PagesThe objective of this study is to write a reaction on a 12-step meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous with the focus of the meeting being attitude modification. The meeting attended was the Stairway Group meeting in Decatur, Alabama. The members who attended this gro up meeting were of all ages, of both the female and male gender and were white, black, and Hispanic individuals. The majority of the attendees were males. First Speaker The first speaker at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was a woman whoRead More12-Step Research Paper1506 Words   |  7 Pagesnearly all recovery programs still in use today. The program was originally called Twelve Steps for Alcoholics and is now referred to as the Twelve Step Program. The origins of the Twelve Step Program are unique. The Twelve-Step Program was the creation of a gentleman named Bill Wilson. Wilson was a stockbroker originally from New York who moved to Akron, Ohio, in 1935. Wilson was an alcoholic. After his relocation to Akron, he was extremely lonely and his drinking increased; in spite of thisRead MoreAlcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous1851 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Alcoholics Anonymous Introduction Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of men and women who put across their experiences with alcohol and who support each-other in recovering from the critical conditions that the substance brought them in. In order to become a member, a person only needs to stop drinking, as there are no fees associated with the institution: it is a self-supporting group using its own contributions to function. A.A. is not related to any religious or political ideology, organizationRead MoreHistory Of Organization : Alcoholics Anonymous ( A.a )1691 Words   |  7 PagesHistory of Organization Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio, and is a spiritual based organization with the sole purpose â€Å"to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety† threw fellowship. Alcoholic Anonymous (A.A.) foundation is built on a 12 step program that involves taking 12 step that will guarantee your sobriety (according to A.A.) because you start the 12 steps but you never end, it is designed for you to consistently workRead MoreAlcoholism : A Serious Issue1311 Words   |  6 PagesPeople turn to alcohol to escape and not feel whatever it is that they are going through. Most alcoholics drink because they cannot deal with being sober, and eventually they drink to overcome the severe mental craving for alcohol. Alcoholism destroys families, it affects everyone close to the alcoholic in a negative way, and work/school suffers. Relationships suffer due to alcoholism, and often the alcoholic loses family and friends. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 dieRead MoreAlcohol Abuse Is The Most Common Addictive Behavior1295 Words   |  6 PagesMany have tried to guest and speculate that alcohol abuse is due to many factors that include genetics, social, mental and emotional, and even how people around you raised you. Many also have speculated that people that we associates with that are alcoholics can be a factor also. It can be family and friends, schoolmates, and colleagues. Some also say that it can be due to emotional and psychological disorders such as depression, bipolar, or anxiety are factors of someone to drive to drinking to forgetRead MoreAlcoholism-The Need for Improvement of Alcohol Treatment Programs574 Words   |  3 Pagesteens, college students, and adults. The word alcoholic means anyone who is affected by drinking, and seriously influences or interferes with his/her work, family, or health (Alcoholic. 2009Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Alcoholism is a diseas e, and one of the worst to have. Over nine million Americans have alcoholism (Harris, 2000). Programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), have a very high failure rate. About 90% to be more accurate. Very few alcoholics make it successfully through AA, leaving littleRead MoreAlcoholics Anonymous : An International Mutual Aid Fellowship1574 Words   |  7 PagesAlcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid fellowship founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. AA states that its primary purpose is to help alcoholics to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. With other early members Bill Wilson and Bob Smith developed AA s Twelve Step program of spiritual and character development. AA s initial Twelve Traditions were introduced in 1946 to help the fellowship be stable and unified while disengaged from outside