Understanding Alcoholics Anonymous as a Spiritual Fellowship: From Individual to Social Structure

Abstract

Clinicians' understanding of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is generally based on their subjective response to encounters with patients, rather than on empirical research. In an effort to improve on this, this article presents a model of AA's operation that draws on diverse, scientifically grounded disciplines: social psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, sociobiology, and sociology. Findings from these respective disciplines are presented to clarify how social support initially influences an individual's induction into the program, and how the social structure of the fellowship can be framed from an empirical perspective. Integration of a model of AA along these lines can help in framing how it succeeds in stabilizing long-term recovery in its adherents, and how its psychological and sociologic underpinnings have assured its continuity over time.