RECOVERY FROM ALCOHOLISM.   Term Paper ID:23900 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines Alcoholics Anonymous, atheistic/humanistic approach, cognitive behavioral therapy, intervention, role of media.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines Alcoholics Anonymous, atheistic/humanistic approach, cognitive behavioral therapy, intervention, role of media. Paper Introduction: This paper attempts to evaluate some current materials about the problem of alcohol abuse and to estimate how effective they are in educating and enlightening the public about this problem. This small selection represents merely a random sampling of the vast amount of information on this subject, which ranges from the committed to the skeptical, and from the intensely scientific to the frothy. An effort has been made to choose the more serious attempts to discuss this problem. At this time any discussion of alcoholism needs to begin with a discussion of Alcoholics Anonymous, whose program, which has spread around the world since its founding in 1935, is unarguably the most effective approach yet found for dealing with the age-old scourge of alcoholism, about which even the ancient Greeks made jokes. However, to say that it is the most effective is no Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. World Services, such as BillWilson's 1955 pamphlet on A.A.'s "Twelve Traditions, evoked severaldifferent responses. faces as an approach to treatment ofan illness is that it does have a strong religious flavor. Theimmensely popular drama series Party of Five had, as one of its manysubplots, the theme of Bailey Salinger's alcoholism, his discovery of hisdead father's alcoholism and sobriety, and his attempts to stop drinking,with and without the help of A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. His review wasno doubt picked up by many venues, and McGovern's prominence as aPresidential candidate would draw many people to read his book, the honestyand well-informed discussions in which would then further penetrate theveil of denial that always tend to surround this disease. The famous Days of Wine and Roses¸ starring JackLemmon and Lee Remick, filmed in the early 196 s, was many people's firstexposure to the fact of A.A.'s existence, but it was a grim and uninvitingone. Magill Book Reviews, EBSCO Text Abstracts (CD-ROM), 1996.Hall, Wayne, and Claudia Sannibale. functions much like a religious movement, even though itis not organized as a church. Los Angeles, CA: A.A. The other is the rise of alternative recovery programs, with their ownliterature, which are strictly atheistic and humanistic. The Humanistic approaches to alcoholism treatment, as in such programsas Rational Recovery or Secular Organizations for Sobriety (Bufe 128-133),which do have a respectable recovery rate for their members, demonstratethat A.A.'s approach is not necessarily the only one that can work.However, A.A., which does have "special interest" meetings specifically foratheists (as well as for a great variety of other minority groups), rejoinsthat any alternative must provide resources equivalent to those in A.A.Bufe's critique of A.A. Bob Smith, founded A.A. The greatest difficulty that A.A. Despite theHumanists' claim that they are not a religion, the AHA is classified as areligious movement by sociologists of religion for precisely the samereasons that A.A. grew out of Frank Buchman's Oxford Groups, andused the New Testament as its text for its first few years, until thecrucial occasion, described at various places in A.A. Yet it is effective compared to almost all other approaches, forwhich the recovery rate is still lower. This isliterature, targeted toward alcoholism or a myriad of other problems, whichtones down the spiritual emphasis in favor of a more strictly medical orpsychological approach (although there is also a type of such literaturewhich is even more spiritual and sometimes even sectarian). is, and as a religious movement has clear ties to thetype of "Jewish atheism" that is a traditional subculture among educatedand radical Jews in America. members recounting the experiences of their addiction and theirrecovery, much like what they would say when speaking live at an A.A.meeting. A.A. Like theNew Testament, it was written not to convert the outsiders, but tostrengthen and sustain those who are already members--and anyone reading itin order to find out how to stop the drinking that is killing him or her iseffectively already a member. 1997, Home Sunday ed.: M-5."The Price of Golden Eggs." Alberta Report/Western Report 23.3 (1996): 36."A Traditional Prevention Strategy for Native Americans." Addiction Letter 12.6 (1996): 4."Welfare-Recipient Substance Abuse Equals Use of General Population." Alcoholism Report 24.11 (1996): 2.W[ilson], Bill. Wilson, usually referred to as Bill W., who, withDr. Ann, M.D., and Katherine Ketcham. This paper attempts to evaluate some current materials about theproblem of alcohol abuse and to estimate how effective they are ineducating and enlightening the public about this problem. is entertaining and informative, but suffers fromthe shortsightedness induced by the unquestionable assumption that allreligion is, as Freud believed, a symptom of mental illness. Brody's article, which is a Personal Health column in the New YorkTimes, is a good example of an approach to public education that isprobably much more useful. "Are There Two Types of Alcoholism?" Lancet 348.9 37 (1996): 1258."Is Abstinence from Alcohol and Drugs More Important than Smoking Cessation?" Addiction Letter 12.6 (1996): 1.Making a Start in Alcoholics Anonymous: A Guide for the Beginner. The first part is considered to be virtually untouchable, editingerrors and all; but the stories have been revised, replaced, andsupplemented in the later editions of the book, primarily to reflect theexperiences of the increasingly diverse membership. A.A.'s "anonymity" is stretched to thelimit by these shows, but it is not the identity of the alcoholic that isthe issue so much as the fact that no one person can claim to speakauthoritatively in the name of A.A. 3d ed. However, to say that it isthe most effective is not to say that it is very effective; the recoveryrate among alcoholics in general who are exposed to A.A. approach, so long as they are part ofan overall recovery strategy. Tradition: How It Developed. Similarly, thearticle by Hall and Sannibale in The Lancet will interest those who arealready fairly well-informed about alcoholism. is still fairlylow. Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? Grefrath's review of George McGovern's biography of his daughterTerry, who died by freezing to death in a snowdrift while drunk, is anotherexample of a discussion that would probably open some eyes. was not and could not be an exclusively Christianorganization and broke free from the Oxford Groups. It has become atext not only for A.A., but for all the many other Anonymous or "Twelve-Step" programs that apply A.A.'s basic discoveries and techniques tosimilar problems, such as overeating and anorexia, drug addiction,compulsive gambling, sex and love addictions, and what is now a steadilygrowing list of social dysfunctions. One is reminded ofan aphorism uttered by C.S. This educational aspect of the programwas further reinforced by actor Scott Wolf's public service announcementsabout alcoholism and recovery programs. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 1939.---. in 1935. 1995: C13.Bufe, Charles. The recent When a Man Loves a Woman, starring Meg Ryan, was much morein line with the positive picture portrayed by Scott Wolf, as well as byGrace Under Fire, John Larroquette, James Garner, and similar televisionseries, in which the theme of recovery is usually introduced at theinsistence of the now sober star. San Francisco: See Sharp Press, 1991.Firshein, Janet. The book which became the text for the movement, and from which themovement derived its name, is Alcoholics Anonymous, which was writtenprimarily by William G. By the time Alcoholics Anonymouswas published, however, Wilson and the others had discovered that a slowprocess of personality reform could work as well. The book, completed and published in1939, distilled the wisdom of many sources and combined it with theknowledge gained from the practical experiences of the first four years ofA.A.'s existence into what is acknowledged to be one of the most importantmanuals of spiritual discipline created in modern times. Firsheim's article in The Lancet is informative, in reporting thatcognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy turns outto be just as effective as the A.A. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 1976. Similarly, movies have become more and more positive and accurate intheir depictions of A.A. "Intervening with Someone Who Drinks Too Much." New York Times 12 Apr. This smallselection represents merely a random sampling of the vast amount ofinformation on this subject, which ranges from the committed to theskeptical, and from the intensely scientific to the frothy. The Lancet, as the journal of the BritishMedical Association, is not on many people's lists of favorite magazines,but it is read by many educated professionals, not merely by doctors.Still, this brief article does not make it clear why this result isimportant, and without a basis of knowledge about the controversies overA.A., a person would probably be merely puzzled by it. Central Office, n.d.Mueller, L. Bufe is fairlytypical of such literature. This isunderstandable, since A.A. This approach resulted in fact from a suggestion byCarl Jung to a patient, Roland, who communicated it to Bill Wilson, thatsometimes a religious conversion can enable a person to change enough,deeply enough, to overcome alcoholism. New York: Bantam Books, 1987.Peele, Stanton. "Alcohol-Treatment Programmes Are Comparable." Lancet 349.9 44 (1997): 4 .Grefrath, Richard W. An effort hasbeen made to choose the more serious attempts to discuss this problem. Someone reading it without that motivationto grasp it will more often than not be baffled by it. Recovering: How to Get and Stay Sober. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Serviû[?]Öÿ¼[?]Times New RomanT[?]-[pic]-[pic]ny Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. One is the new nonfiction genre called "recoveryliterature," of which Mueller and Ketcham are fairly typical. literature, when themembers decided that A.A. Works CitedBrody, Jane E. "Don't Reward What Doesn't Work." Los Angeles Times 26 Jan. At this time any discussion of alcoholism needs to begin with adiscussion of Alcoholics Anonymous, whose program, which has spread aroundthe world since its founding in 1935, is unarguably the most effectiveapproach yet found for dealing with the age-old scourge of alcoholism,about which even the ancient Greeks made jokes. Still, it isuseful in providing an approach to treatment and recovery that can work forpersons who simply cannot tolerate the A.A. The key to A.A.'ssuccess is its focus on inducing a deep change in the personalities of itsmembers, so that the problems that produced the problem drinking canfinally be resolved. Its meetings, especially in small towns andconservative communities, often have the flavor of a "Low church" Biblestudy group. His approach represents what one might callthe "devout atheism" of the American Humanist Association, for whosemembers it is virtually an article of faith that any compromise withtheistic concepts would violate their personal integrity. However, from the viewpoint of sociology of religion, itis clear that A.A. meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous is certainly essential reading for anyoneseriously interested in understanding the complex disease of alcoholism,but it is not easy reading for non-alcoholics and therefore not extremelyuseful for educating the public about the disease of alcoholism. The book consists of two parts: the first part is the basic textwritten by Bill Wilson and critiqued by the "first hundred" members ofA.A.; and the second part is the "stories," brief autobiographical essaysby A.A. Finally, one might mention the increasing frequency with whichalcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous are being depicted in the media. service offices, and are intended to be informative and useful bothfor the alcoholic and for his or her friends and family. Rev. of Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism, by George McGovern. She begins with an example of a successfulintervention that enabled an alcoholic to stop drinking, discusses thenature and extent of the disease, gives guidelines for how to intervene ona one-to-one basis, lists symptoms of the stages of the disease, andfinally refers the reader to pamphlets from Hazelden in Minneapolis, whichruns one of the most important substance-abuse treatment centers inAmerica. subculture. literature, and often read at the beginningof A.A. Wilson wrote (AlcoholicsAnonymous, 3d ed., 569) in the second edition of the book, "Most of ourexperiences are what the psychologist William James called the `educationalvariety' because they develop slowly over a period of time." A.A.'s official position is that its approach is spiritual, notreligious, since it is not allied with "any sect, denomination, politics,organization, or institution," which is part of the self-definitionreprinted over and over in A.A. Articles in such specialized journals as Addiction Letter orAlcoholism Report are again very well-researched and useful to those whoare already well-informed, but tend to assume too much background to beuseful for the general public. For this reason, persons of other religious backgrounds oftenhave a difficult time coping with the A.A. as a fellowship. Instead, the great variety of pamphletspublished by Alcoholics World Services are much more useful, being targetedat the correct level, and usually addressed to a specific audience, such asemployers, doctors, legal professionals, family members, or co-workers.Further pamphlets, such as "Making a Start in A.A.," are published by localA.A. subculture. Lewis in his BBC lectures (which subsequentlybecame his Mere Christianity) that "Christianity really does not make anysense as long as you think you do not need what is being offered." This aspect of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is also true of most of therest of the literature published by A.A. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.