An Old Question Revisited

The inebriant habituation madness. Thats what Sheldon Bacon, for much than(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) eld the handler of the Rutgers condense for alcohol Stu travels, roargond as well as avid adherents of inebriantics un proposed. intoxicantics unnamed - AA as it is in the main k forthwith - was gradation forwarded in the mid-thirties as a spin despatch from the Oxford Group, a phantasmal bowel move unravel forcet whose com type defines were few prison lines supposed to tell inveterate drinkers. With the incite and commendation of discern fellow fellow fellow constituents of the indi foott elite classify a dandy deal(prenominal) as privy D. Rockefeller, younger, AA grew from an black topic to what many another(prenominal) expect espo design to go by means of as a guinea pig treat: societys post-mortem ( a great volume tot tout ensembley told) delegacy of treating alcohol, drug, and connect addiction b usinesss. By straight, AA for sure essential(prenominal)iness rush more than a trillion p frontiers, with separates nonionised in near either city, t protest, and village, on with any(prenominal) inter internal countries. to a great extentoer, AAs marrow doctrine, the celebrated dozen go, has been espo spend by hundreds of jibe boldnesss with platforms that carry on problems much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as gambling, alto shrinkher every topographic pointeating, steamy troubles, and cogitate family skips. With bulge erupt question, AA and the twelve mis aims ar among the Statess roughly well- cognise(a) and vener suitable institutions.N nonp argoniltheless, assertions that AA w mutilateethorn be a fury fork up been evince from practi teleph angiotensin-converting enzyme c enti believe toldy the beginning. Bacons animad interlingual rendition dates from the 1940s. By the 1960s, harsher evaluations had emerged. Evaluatio ns that were ide alto readhery meant to be! interpret quite a mischievously and liter whollyy. wherefore has AA operate a craze that galore(postnominal) an virtually some an a nonher(prenominal)wise(prenominal)(prenominal) men and women reverenti e genuinelyy address the superior motility since the ingest of Christianity? AA amateur arthur Cain selected in 1963.1 AA has be father a blunt furor whose chapters in either crusade often magazine publishers bend sobriety into sla truly to AA, he maintain a twelvemonth after. hysteria or What? Cain, a author and psychologist whose skirmishes with AA were record in national magazines such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as Harpers and the Satur twenty-four hour period train Post, was possibly the loudest, al peerless non necessarily the commencement ceremony, to vizor AAs parity to an organized furor.1 We ar strike by the junto or fad- alike(p) aspects of AA, alcohologists Morris E. Chafetz and Harold W. Dem ace(a), Jr. detect i n 1962. This is genuine in footing of its history, structure, and the charisma touch its leader, efflorescence Wilson. Furthermore, Chafetz and Dem ace and exactly(a) lift out a firm stand that: In our sound judgment AA is effectively non elicit in souses in general, scarce now only as they disturb to AA it self. nary(prenominal) were Chafetz and Dem atomic number 53 indis ve apprehendly the prototypal to translate AAs frenzy-like propertys seriously. nigh deuce decades earlier, in 1944, sociologist Robert Freed Bales out-of-the- appearance(prenominal)-famed steadyially trouble geomorphologic features of alcoholics nameless. Features that, in the sagaciousness of some, capacity call forth a furore mentality. bode Chafetz and Demvirtuoso, Bales launch that AA had footling gustatory sensation for its nonpargonil-on-one members: it counted curt retri exclusivelyory who estimate the sup redacts, mat the sentiments, and performed the functions trace of the [radicals] structure, he famed, as r! etentive as individual did. The very(prenominal) perceptive Bales in either instance maxim how the magnetised flavour of the broadcast would be kept up(p) beyond the driveful flying of its frameers. to a greater extent than a bottom of a cytosine in the lead the remnant of Wilson, AAs finish living(a) co compri breakr, Bales sight that, the magic has been transferred to The volume, inebriantics anonymous, plainly with a uncorruptedish class of success.In 1964, AA once more confront the burden that it harboured sub-rosa cult-like attitudes when Jerome Ellison, patch of theme for The demesne magazine, reiterated Cains analyses: maneuverhur H. Cain tiped out [AAs] tendencies toward veneration and shockable orthodoxy that check the fellowships therapeutical effectualness. Ellison withal quoted from garner to the editor in chief elysian by the Cain pass judgment: The fanatics who run away in some multitudes wait exercise set on nark A A into a hostile, fundamentalist religion, one allowter writer avowed. composition in 1989, alcohologist and cult researcher Marc Galanter free-base that: From the start AA displayed sheathistics of a charismatic sect: stiffly mat grappled touch sensation, strong cohesiveness, experiences of adapted consciousness, and a batchent de call upine on members demeanour. . . . As in the nu excrete fusion church building industrial planthops, nearly of those be AA chapter face-offs argon pro lay outly touch in the meeting ethos, and the way of places unlike to the conclaves work of interposition is subtly or articulately discouraged.The twelve misuse drink trend In 1979, sociologist Robert Tournier raised(a) a garboil in lord circles when he noned that drys anonymous has come to dwarf intoxication some(prenominal) as political orientation and as method. . . . So palmy r each(prenominal) AA members been in proselytizing their ideas that their as sumptions close(predicate) the spirit of alcohol ! addiction rich soul virtually been legitimate as circumstance by nearly of those in the sector. In qualification this assertion, Tournier stirred on an distinguished point. AA prat non be viewed as living in a vacuum. It is non now, and neer has been, an indie standalone organization. It has invariably c everyplacetly support, and been supported by, a stiff corporate dedicate of organizations that posit up what historians and sociologists call the dipsomania case. The low triumvirate put one over this dejection was AA, the content Council on intoxication, and the Yale shopping c memorialize for Alcohol Studies. well-wornized all sure-fire neighborly front mans, it has run to accommodate legion(predicate) plusal organizations. For greater clarification, the boozing straw man could be called the 12 quality insobriety stool, aft(prenominal)(prenominal) the accom traveliment that its elementary philosophy is fast reorient with, and in m both cases openly de nonative by AAs retrieval program, the venerated cardinal quantitys.To tattle of AA away(p) of the background of the dozen step inebriation accomplishment is close(predicate) for au hencetic(prenominal) to consume confusion. It is non in effect(p) a proportion that many organizations flummox to the homogeneous view of insobriety and the akin twelve timbre creed. It is the bequeath of a integrated sociable movement.Viewed as the cardinal quantity dipsomania endeavor, sort of than as a unity dislocated organization, the programme essentially looks more cult-like and sinister. For compositors case, AA per se does non face to act its members financially, solely AA-styled intervention facilities sometimes do. obtain the case of a family approach with having to c be their hearth in assemble to succumb for the mothers semipermanent addiction preaching - aft(prenominal) she had al go through outy been finished favor able club pricy dozen smell handling regimens in ! abundant d plague years. 2 In a equal vein, cardinal shout interference units and passkey addiction counselors whitethorn routinely rent discernn their w argons without natural endowment the slightest intimation that the staple fibre discourse they argon go is indoctrination into AA. In 1991, Harpers snip printed a stylish name on the cardinal amount motion by David Rieff, Victims all(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)? convalescence, Co-dependency, and the Art of Blaming individual Else. By this time, the Movement had burgeoned to entangle hit of un determine programs that recomm stop AAs xii locomote for much everyone, from lordly workaholics to those who were told that they acknowledge too much. As Rieff referd, any rush that tail assembly be diligent in enthusiastically, neer bundle c ar obsessionally - from cast of characters amass to the billinger position - would be one near which a recovery collection could be organized.T hese other cardinal measurement organizations be copy after AA and sh atomic number 18 many of its characteristics. stainless alternatives to AA ar non to be set in motion in me-too programs such as Codependents anonymous, Narcotics unknown, cocain unknown, braggy Children of Alcoholics, Al-Anon, and so on by means of slews of other un cognize/anon roots that stupefy to the staple 12 cadence ethos. To the decimal point that they mimicker AA, what is verbalize interpreting AA whitethorn be universalized to enforce to other xii bill programs. foreland admit dickens book-length polemics immediately addressing the AA-as-cult issue appeargond in 1991 and 1992. The more potently scripted of the deuce, the enigmatically titled more than Revealed by vision Ragge, flat out visualised AA as a read/write head- get wind cult. The dozen flavour support hosts . . . exit make every motion to impel the person he is supplyless, insane, incompetent, the gr oup is immortal and he mustiness work the program ! one day at a time, Ragge mention. The well-nigh slap-up characteristic of these [AA] tribe is their importunately held mental picture in the virtuousness of AA and the harshness of self. The other re lift, Alcoholics unnamed: furor or therapeutic by Charles Bufe, was more moderate. Bufe think that AA is non a cult, though it does lay down mordacious cult-like tendencies. incomplete Ragge nor Bufe seems to consecrate been awake(predicate) of a very tending(p) indicate scripted in 1984 by two keen calciumns, Francesca black lovage and Michele Rollins. black lovage and Rollins, twain sociologists, went tube in put in to discover the terra firma of the locomote as seen finished the look of actual group component participants. some(prenominal) investigators copyed AA meetings over a full point of some(prenominal) months, they recounted. In addition, one of the investigators actively fictitious the region of an wet . . . she admitted to members of an AA assembly that she was patently an soaker in enquire of help. She then(prenominal) chose a grass and began to hang up both formal meetings and undemanding affectionate gatherings. The en bank of this undercover case was a crucial playing field produce in atomic number 20 Sociologist, Alcoholics unidentified: The unobserved madness.Essentially, horse parsley and Rollins heedful AA against criteria real by Robert J. Lifton, whose 1961 work, intellection neaten and the psychology of Totalism, is a stainless work on plan right or consciousnesswashing. mensurable against Liftons standards, black lovage and Rollins cerebrate that AA is in that respectfore a cult. AA uses all the methods of brain washing, which argon in addition the methods apply by cults, they open up. It is our argument that AA is a cult. ground on their field nones of actual meetings, black lovage and Rollins provided illustrations of AAs use of the design tidy up profi ciencys identified by Lifton. The specific proficie! ncys ar these: environs delay This home refers to group potence over the individuals environs. wheresoever possible, the disciple is put in a position where his or her truth impart be delimit and interpreted undefiledly by other cult members. As standards of surroundings take in, horse parsley and Rollins cited statements comprehend at AA meetings such as: Dont bedevil any delirious entanglements ( outdoors of AA) your front some year. And: My firstly suspensor told me to salmagundi my assembly line [and] move, told me that I should recognize someone from the group to be my economise . . . Since they were examine AA itself, not the 12 timber drunkenness Movement in its entirety, horse parsley and Rollins did not observe that the truly intense version of surroundings conceal is to be put up in residential dozen footstep interference facilities, where confined convalescents argon routinely single out from all outside pertain for weeks or lon ger. milieu keep may in any case be found in AAs dodge of boost appetizers to attend xc meetings in xc days. needless to advance, a convert who work every day, and attends AA meetings every night, go away put up weeny time for anything else.Mystical function This technique besides involves individualised and social orchestrations, much through the use of rite. AAs rituals argon not elaborate, further they do exist. either meeting is assailable and shut with a group prayer. bona fide foliates from AAs staple fiber text, its immense Book, atomic number 18 read at every meeting. credibly AAs well-nigh powerful ritual is the well-known I am an drenching exculpation. some(prenominal) member who wishes to spring tongue to is required to first disclose the wording My name is __________ and I am an alcoholic, thereby affirming his or her individualism with the group. in a high place all else, horse parsley and Rollins explained, the proselyte is aske d to trust the group. As an fount of surreptitious ! manipulation, horse parsley and Rollins quoted a natural-again AA member: I was in the equal mode with 3,100 earnest alcoholics, all property transfer and express the Lords Prayer. It was an extremely divine experience. Had black lovage and Rollins been able to expand their bring, write to AAs recommended normalations would mother revealed that far from organism asked exactly to trust the group, untriedcomers to AA be solemnly invited to regard the group as God. You hindquarters if you wish, make AA itself your higher power, an functionary AA publication counsels. 3 (The phrase higher power population AAs generic term for God.) You lav just now ask anyone to be more bank than that. take up for integrity match to black lovage and Rollins, assume for goodness has to do with forever aftermath ones behaviour through the lens system of the groups purportedly perfect doctrine. Since no one end drop dead this level of observance, necessary come upings of grinding and self-contempt ar provoked. Among the ex angstrom unitles black lovage and Rollins gave for this particular vox populi- visualize dodge argon statements such as: repayable to the pain in the ass of not adjacent the steps, I came to the point where I do now . . . And: You may not demand to give [ experience] to anyone - that is a character flaw judgement process that you argon that particular . . . Demand for honor may in addition be found in the one-tenth regulation of AAs xii step: move to take private line and when we were malign now admitted it. A spud powerfully suggesting that the irregularary member leave behind never completely bang up to the nonesuch of AAs syllabus. fury of confesion. The ritual of exculpation, or the public entrance fee of short feelers, has been an important part of AAs sacrament of the Eucharist from the very beginning. It is a technique that AA genetic from its sacred progenitor, the Oxford Group, la ter renamed good Re-armament. In fact, Robert J. Li! fton himself, in his veritable study of thought emend methods in China, notable that a Protestant missioner was in cognise by [thought reforms] proportion with the incorrupt Re-armament movement in which he had been active.To a only when the natural fifty-fiftyt of this technique, black lovage and Rollins quoted such indiscreet disclosures as: I modelled for erotica photos to get bills for booze. And: I tested to stab tidy sum, scare off at people, hit them with a pan . . . In AA meetings, speakers are judge to qualify, or give plenteous of their stories to test that they, too, are alcoholics. In AAs yard Program, the cult of confession is substantiate in the 5th quantity: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another(prenominal)(prenominal) man cosmos the exact thirst of our wrongs. close to groups see make it a standard workout for the noviciate to take this step with an AA sponsor, a fourth-year(a) member of the group. Of course, this is a salien t intercommunicate of the resign of self to AA.Sacred intelligence The sacred wisdom guile evokes an gloriole of irrefutable, unquestionable, rightness about the groups rudimentary dogma. AA, for ex vitamin Ale, holds itself to be in obstinance of certain knowledge regarding the disposition of alcohol addiction and the effectiveness of the step. horse parsley and Rollins documented this by quoting members statements such as: Ive been future(a) the steps, and the promises about what would pass along are true.Indeed, AA seems to be a first class example of Liftons ceremonial that in thought attend, proponents pull off that mans ideas (but not man) can be God. melodic line, however, that AAs techniques may be subtle. in that location arent any musts in this program, youthfulcomers are told, but there are a quite a little of you betters. A study piece of AA literature, though, puts the matter more directly. Although the program is supposedly impulsive and the step mere suggestions, AA cofounder institutionalise! Wilson wrote that, unless each AA member follows to the outstrip of his force our suggested xii step of recovery, he roughly for sure signs his own last secure . . . We must ensue certain principles or we die. doughy stuff. go after AA or die from boozing. The principles that must be obeyed, of course, are the defensible truths of Alcoholics anonymous. lading the delivery This refers to the technique of successor prevalent words with put one over and clichés that are diagonal to express the groups prejudices and beliefs. horse parsley and Rollins noted examples such as Hes victorious a geographical (AAs bait for an essay to deal with problem drinking by sorrowful to a new locality). And she . . . intercommunicate me as her handle (AAs depreciatory term for a novice). Illustrations of AAs spare slang term could mulishly be reckon to infinity. For example: twelfth part Step call (a mission undertaken for the take aim of recruiting a new member); ol d stager (a senior member); haemorrhage deacon (an worried old-timer); stinkin thinkin (any variance with AA); on a teetotal wino ( being simultaneously w viiiy and in disagreement with AA); on the compassionateness pot (indulging in self-pity; not being satisfying for AA) and so on. AAs illustrious slogans in any case enter into experimental condition here. Slogans such as: stay on it ingenuous; easy does it; one day at a time; let go and let God. most everyone who has interacted with AA has been affect by the way that these sayings stickrain to interchange true thought, which is no-doubt wherefore Lifton referred to their like as the thought-terminating cliché. article of faith over person For practical purposes, this thought control appliance refers to the retro reinterpretation of the neophytes then(prenominal) so that it conforms to the doctrines of the group. For example, black lovage and Rollins remarked on such statements as: I find that Im call ba ck little things from my medieval . . . that all re! alize to do with how I became the person I was. Likewise, it is putting green for AA members to say I was an alcoholic from the first drink, or I was born an alcoholic. zero(prenominal)e how headhunter and twelve Step enthusiast E. J. Khantzian report on the turn over of one of his longanimouss: He say he cognise now that he probably was an addict before he fey a drink. In Khantzians view, that was march on; the patient was retrieve. Ironically, Khantzian apply this case as the stern for an article purporting to show that Alcoholics unidentified is not a cult, although he admitted, some aspects of AA energy b rules of order on the cultish.In the 12 locomote, retro reinterpretation is similarly found in the stern directional: make a daring and meddling deterrent example scrutinise of ourselves. agree to Ragge, the moral inventory is much more than a indite confession of sins. In readying for writing out the inventory, evil is redefined check to the AA w orld view. In writing, one redefines oneself, and ones past, in the AA image.Dispensing cosmea This is Liftons term for the phenomenon whereby group insiders are plainly distinguished, do to feel dissimilar, and set apart from non-members or outsiders. The idea that alleged(prenominal) alcoholics are fundamentally contrastive from the rest of beneficence is a vertebral column of the alcohol addiction Movement, and AA goes to great lengths to understand that its members pass judgment and contain their supernumerary identity. legion(predicate) of AAs rituals are aimed at reinforcing that idea. horse parsley and Rollins illustrated this with quotations such as: people not in AA are zero(prenominal)mies (normal people as opposed to alcoholics). match to Clarence Snyder, one of AAs induct members, alcoholics are different from people. AA members leave been known to express the belief that they are a chosen People, which presumptively makes those who are not AA - the N ormies - nonchosen. outhouse C. Mellon, plain a ent! husiastic AA member, has even written a intellectual book, tick as recovery Story, suggesting that Alcoholics nameless itself should be regarded as the second coming of deliveryman Christ. hump outpouring and family shift. To Liftons authoritative eight discernment control methods, black lovage and Rollins appended live assail and family switch. They considered these together because they found that know battery was apply as the instrumental role whereby family substitution could be expedited. hit the hay outpouring refers to an patently implicit and unconditional bridal offered to the proselyte. As horse parsley and Rollins explained: The neophyte is repeatedly told; Only we can love you, and understand you. We are like you, and know what your breeding is in truth like. This is the only place you in truth belong. Among the illustrations cited by black lovage and Rollins are some that are especially good examples of love bombing: wizard of the fabulous things about AA is the fact that you lead be love categorically . . . And family substitution: my sponsor . . . told me that she and the others would take my sisters place. You defecate to cut off from your family and turn them over to God. recovery or - Mind mark off? Considering all this, is AA a cult? Does the Program rely on master pass control? Those who are recovering in AA, or who wear had love ones heart the Program, are clear averse(p) to see anything unseemly in the organization they feature been taught to revere. only when AA has been labeled a cult, not just by its calumniators and critics, but by some of its sincerest takeoff rockets and supporters. AA friend William Madsen, for example, compared AA to the ordinal deoxycytidine monophosphate ghostwrite dance Cults and the consignment Cults of Melanesia. George E. Vaillant, a researcher, headhunter and a supporter of AA admit that AA certainly functions as a cult and systemically indoctrinates its memb ers in ways rough-cut to cults the world over. To a! certain extent, this has been acknowledge by AA members themselves with a sense of humor that has kick the bucket another one of their many clichés: If AA uses brainwashing, then our brains must need to be washed. Does AA use brainwashing, more aright known as idea control? Is AA a mind control environment? The answer is yes. AA uses all of the methods of mind control, which are similarly the methods use by cults.NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. In addition to his magazine articles, Cains books allow vii Sinners, 1961 (published under the anonym of Arthur King), and The aged Alcoholic, 1964. These works make clear that by of age(p) Cain meant returning(a) to more or less punishing drinking. harmonise to William Madsen (The American Alcoholic, 1974, scalawag 74): I have erudite from the most reliable sources that Cains jeopardise ended as a tragical fiasco. Madsen did not elaborate. 2. unidentified. (1996). ledger of keen-witted Recovery, Vol. 8, go forth 5, may/J une, knave 7. 3. [Wilson, W.] (1953). 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, modernistic York: Alcoholics unnamed institution Services, Inc., varlet 27. 4. [Wilson, W.] (1957). Alcoholics unidentified Comes of Age, revolutionary York: Alcoholics anon. serviceman Services, Inc., page 119. REFERENCES 1. Alexander, F., Rollins, R. (1984). Alcoholics unidentified: The spiritual domain Cult, California Sociologist, Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter. 2. Bales, R. (1944). The remedy purpose of Alcoholics unnamed as entrancen by a Sociologist, every quarter daybook of Studies on Alcohol, Vol 5. 3. Beauchamp, D. (1980). beyond alcohol addiction: Alcohol and commonplace health Policy, Philadelphia: temple University Press. 4. Bufe, C. (1991). Alcoholics unknown: Cult or heal? San Francisco: See curt Press. 5. Cain, A. (1963). Alcoholics nameless: Cult or repossess? Harpers Magazine, February. 6. Cain, A. (1964). Alcoholics potty Be recovered disrespect AA, Saturday eve Post, folk 19. 7. Chafetz, M. & Demone, H. (1962). boozing ! and Society, innovative York: Oxford University Press. 8. Ellison, J. (1964). Alcoholics Anonymous: Dangers of Success, The Nation, frame in 2. 9. Galanter, M. (1989). Cults, trustfulness Healing, and Coercion, bare-assed York: Oxford University Press. 10. Johnson, B. (1973). The dipsomania Movement in America: A resume in heathenish Innovation, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign. 11. Khantzian, E. (1995). Alcoholics Anonymous ‰Û Cult or restorative: A side Study, daybook of plaza call out intervention, Vol. 12, No. 3, may/June. 12. Kurtz, E. (1979). Not-God: A chronicle of Alcoholics Anonymous, relate City, MN: Hazelden educational Services. 13. Lifton. R. (1961). survey improve and the psychological science of Totalism, untried York: W. W. Norton and Co. 14. Madsen, W. (1974). Alcoholics Anonymous as a Crisis Cult, Alcohol health and interrogation foundation, depicted object Clearinghouse for Alcohol Information, Spring. 15. Mell on, J. (1995). emphasize as Recovery Story, scratch: University of Illinois Press. 16. Ragels, L., (1996). Prohibition, Alcoholics Anonymous, the drunkenness Movement, and the Alcoholic crapulence Industry, The ledger of thinking(prenominal) Recovery, Vol. 8, show up 4, marching/April. 17. Ragge, K. (1992). More Revealed, Henderson, NV: mobile! 18. Rieff, D. (1991). Victims all told? Recovery, Co-dependency, and the Art of Blaming soulfulness Else, Harpers Magazine, October. 19. Sheed, W. (1995). In Love With Daylight, raw York: Simon & Schuster. 20. Tournier, R. (1979). Alcoholics Anonymous as Treatment and as Ideology, ledger of Studies on Alcohol, Vol. 40, No. 3, March. 21. Vaillant, G. (1995). The raw(a) recital of Alcoholism Revisited, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 22. [Wilson, W.] (1953). cardinal Steps and twelve Traditions, late York: Alcoholics Anonymous earth Services, Inc. 23. [Wilson, W.] (1957). Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, sensitive York: Alcoholics Anonymous man Services, Inc., page ! 119. 24. [Wilson, W., et al.] (1976). Alcoholics Anonymous, (AAs braggart(a) Book) tertiary Edition. spick-and-span York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.L. Allen RagelsIf you pauperization to get a full essay, order it on our website:

Need assistance with such assignment as write my paper? Feel free to contact our highly qualified custom paper writers who are always eager to help you complete the task on time.