Cristopher D. Ringwald
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195147681
- eISBN:
- 9780199849338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195147681.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In dealing with alcoholics and addicts, politicians and commentators usually would prefer to go with treatment instead of sending these alcoholics and addicts to jail. Rarely is it considered that ...
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In dealing with alcoholics and addicts, politicians and commentators usually would prefer to go with treatment instead of sending these alcoholics and addicts to jail. Rarely is it considered that these victims should be developed spiritually. When alcoholics, addicts, and other people who need such help attend support groups, they come to realize during their treatment that there is a “high power” in which they have to submit to instead of merely finding solidarity within the group. A large portion of the millions of Americans who are treated for alcoholism or addiction of substances are advised to foster a spiritual life through participating in fellowship activities like the Twelve-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. This chapter introduces the notion of spirituality and how this is used to help people who practice substance abuse.Less
In dealing with alcoholics and addicts, politicians and commentators usually would prefer to go with treatment instead of sending these alcoholics and addicts to jail. Rarely is it considered that these victims should be developed spiritually. When alcoholics, addicts, and other people who need such help attend support groups, they come to realize during their treatment that there is a “high power” in which they have to submit to instead of merely finding solidarity within the group. A large portion of the millions of Americans who are treated for alcoholism or addiction of substances are advised to foster a spiritual life through participating in fellowship activities like the Twelve-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. This chapter introduces the notion of spirituality and how this is used to help people who practice substance abuse.
James Irving
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447324676
- eISBN:
- 9781447324690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447324676.003.0010
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter concentrates on the practices of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and how they facilitate behavioural change. The author analysed intensive interviews with long-term members of AA using a ...
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This chapter concentrates on the practices of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and how they facilitate behavioural change. The author analysed intensive interviews with long-term members of AA using a framework that focused on motivation to engage, structured social engagement (through the activities of AA) and personal agency. The resulting model (presented as a helix to represent progression over time) illustrates the way that individuals use support from AA and the understandings of their problem drinking – reflecting AA language and concepts in what the author terms ‘linguistic echoes’ – to maintain sobriety. Although there may be limits to identity transformation while still engaged with the organisation as ‘sober alcoholics’, the programme emphasises moral reflection and commitment to new norms and beliefs which are key elements of desistance processes.Less
This chapter concentrates on the practices of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and how they facilitate behavioural change. The author analysed intensive interviews with long-term members of AA using a framework that focused on motivation to engage, structured social engagement (through the activities of AA) and personal agency. The resulting model (presented as a helix to represent progression over time) illustrates the way that individuals use support from AA and the understandings of their problem drinking – reflecting AA language and concepts in what the author terms ‘linguistic echoes’ – to maintain sobriety. Although there may be limits to identity transformation while still engaged with the organisation as ‘sober alcoholics’, the programme emphasises moral reflection and commitment to new norms and beliefs which are key elements of desistance processes.
Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146806
- eISBN:
- 9780199834204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146808.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Many of America's alternative healing systems function as vehicles for the transmission of alternative spiritual philosophies. Chiropractic medicine, Osteopathy, Holistic Healing, Therapeutic Touch, ...
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Many of America's alternative healing systems function as vehicles for the transmission of alternative spiritual philosophies. Chiropractic medicine, Osteopathy, Holistic Healing, Therapeutic Touch, and Alcoholics Anonymous are but a few of the alternative healing systems that have deep roots in the American metaphysical tradition. So, too, do various New Age healing practices such as color or crystal healing that believe in the existence of “subtle energies.” It is clear that many of those who are drawn to our alternative healing systems do so not just for relief from physical ailments but also for spiritual growth and edification.Less
Many of America's alternative healing systems function as vehicles for the transmission of alternative spiritual philosophies. Chiropractic medicine, Osteopathy, Holistic Healing, Therapeutic Touch, and Alcoholics Anonymous are but a few of the alternative healing systems that have deep roots in the American metaphysical tradition. So, too, do various New Age healing practices such as color or crystal healing that believe in the existence of “subtle energies.” It is clear that many of those who are drawn to our alternative healing systems do so not just for relief from physical ailments but also for spiritual growth and edification.
Mike W. Martin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195304718
- eISBN:
- 9780199786572
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195304713.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter presents an integrated, moral-therapeutic perspective on alcoholism. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) invigorated the therapeutic trend by convincing health ...
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This chapter presents an integrated, moral-therapeutic perspective on alcoholism. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) invigorated the therapeutic trend by convincing health professionals and the American public that alcoholism is a disease rather than a morally bad habit. In contrast, it is argued that alcoholism is both a sickness and a morally bad habit. It is a disorder of agency that has physical, psychological, and moral dimensions. The chapter concludes that beneath the disagreements about alcoholism, there is agreement on many key points: alcoholism raises major medical and moral issues; alcoholism is not dictated by a simple biochemical abnormality; most alcoholics retain significant episodic control; most have difficulty (in varying degrees) in controlling their overall patterns of drinking and need help; drinkers have responsibility to avoid causing harm, to cooperate in solving their drinking problems, and to make amends for the harm they cause; and self-righteous blaming and destructive self-blaming are objectionable on both moral and therapeutic grounds. These conclusions provide a partial roadmap for thinking about additional forms of wrongdoing as sickness.Less
This chapter presents an integrated, moral-therapeutic perspective on alcoholism. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) invigorated the therapeutic trend by convincing health professionals and the American public that alcoholism is a disease rather than a morally bad habit. In contrast, it is argued that alcoholism is both a sickness and a morally bad habit. It is a disorder of agency that has physical, psychological, and moral dimensions. The chapter concludes that beneath the disagreements about alcoholism, there is agreement on many key points: alcoholism raises major medical and moral issues; alcoholism is not dictated by a simple biochemical abnormality; most alcoholics retain significant episodic control; most have difficulty (in varying degrees) in controlling their overall patterns of drinking and need help; drinkers have responsibility to avoid causing harm, to cooperate in solving their drinking problems, and to make amends for the harm they cause; and self-righteous blaming and destructive self-blaming are objectionable on both moral and therapeutic grounds. These conclusions provide a partial roadmap for thinking about additional forms of wrongdoing as sickness.
Thomas Crowther
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198727224
- eISBN:
- 9780191833427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727224.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
The focus of this chapter is the account of akrasia in alcoholism suggested by the Alcoholics Anonymous literature. The chapter begins by sketching out this account of akrasia. It then goes on to ...
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The focus of this chapter is the account of akrasia in alcoholism suggested by the Alcoholics Anonymous literature. The chapter begins by sketching out this account of akrasia. It then goes on to raise a number of questions about this account. It attempts to resolve these questions in terms of the idea that alcoholic relapse involves a disorder of mental state. Various features of alcoholic action and thought in relapse are traced to characteristic features of this state. The chapter develops the idea that such states as “obsession with alcohol” are malformed varieties of the normal condition of wakefulness, and that aspects of the disorder involved in alcoholism can be explained in terms of this relation.Less
The focus of this chapter is the account of akrasia in alcoholism suggested by the Alcoholics Anonymous literature. The chapter begins by sketching out this account of akrasia. It then goes on to raise a number of questions about this account. It attempts to resolve these questions in terms of the idea that alcoholic relapse involves a disorder of mental state. Various features of alcoholic action and thought in relapse are traced to characteristic features of this state. The chapter develops the idea that such states as “obsession with alcohol” are malformed varieties of the normal condition of wakefulness, and that aspects of the disorder involved in alcoholism can be explained in terms of this relation.
Dan P. McAdams
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195176933
- eISBN:
- 9780199786787
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176933.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter considers the life stories of American adults who score low on psychological tests measuring generativity. Research suggests that less generative adults tend to construct life stories ...
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This chapter considers the life stories of American adults who score low on psychological tests measuring generativity. Research suggests that less generative adults tend to construct life stories that feature contamination sequences — scenes that begin very good but become irrevocably ruined or spoiled — and circular plots wherein protagonists fail to show progress or growth over time. The chapter traces the ideas of contamination sequences and circular narratives in the theoretical writings of Freud and Silvan Tomkins, and describes efforts to undo contamination in life stories of recovery, rehabilitation, and reform. Among the most powerful redemptive narratives in contemporary American culture are those associated with Alcoholics Anonymous and criminals' efforts to reform their lives.Less
This chapter considers the life stories of American adults who score low on psychological tests measuring generativity. Research suggests that less generative adults tend to construct life stories that feature contamination sequences — scenes that begin very good but become irrevocably ruined or spoiled — and circular plots wherein protagonists fail to show progress or growth over time. The chapter traces the ideas of contamination sequences and circular narratives in the theoretical writings of Freud and Silvan Tomkins, and describes efforts to undo contamination in life stories of recovery, rehabilitation, and reform. Among the most powerful redemptive narratives in contemporary American culture are those associated with Alcoholics Anonymous and criminals' efforts to reform their lives.
Gabriel Segal
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198727224
- eISBN:
- 9780191833427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727224.003.0020
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
“[M]ost alcoholics … have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically non-existent” (Alcoholics Anonymous). In active addiction, when an addict who is trying to ...
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“[M]ost alcoholics … have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically non-existent” (Alcoholics Anonymous). In active addiction, when an addict who is trying to control or cease using attempts to choose to abstain, but fails, he chooses against his own will. He has lost the power to choose as he wants. Often, when an abstinent addict relapses, the relapse is preceded by a cognitive dysfunction that selectively disables his willpower in relation to his substance. These modes of disempowerment in choice making are correctly explained by a specific disease theory of addiction, articulated in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous, and subsequently vindicated by contemporary cognitive/affective neuroscience. The cognitive dysfunction that precedes relapse is caused by stress. Twelve-step programs are effective at relapse prevention and are so because they are comprehensive stress-reduction and management programs.Less
“[M]ost alcoholics … have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically non-existent” (Alcoholics Anonymous). In active addiction, when an addict who is trying to control or cease using attempts to choose to abstain, but fails, he chooses against his own will. He has lost the power to choose as he wants. Often, when an abstinent addict relapses, the relapse is preceded by a cognitive dysfunction that selectively disables his willpower in relation to his substance. These modes of disempowerment in choice making are correctly explained by a specific disease theory of addiction, articulated in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous, and subsequently vindicated by contemporary cognitive/affective neuroscience. The cognitive dysfunction that precedes relapse is caused by stress. Twelve-step programs are effective at relapse prevention and are so because they are comprehensive stress-reduction and management programs.
Craig R. Scott
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804781381
- eISBN:
- 9780804785631
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804781381.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter considers the mildly, moderately, and mostly shadowed regions in the book’s framework for regionalizing organizations. The shadowed regions are similar to the dark region along any two ...
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This chapter considers the mildly, moderately, and mostly shadowed regions in the book’s framework for regionalizing organizations. The shadowed regions are similar to the dark region along any two of the three dimensions in the framework, but not all three. The chapter describes Alcoholics Anonymous and the Ku Klux Klan as mildly shadowed collectives. Skull and Bones and Jackie Evans are characterized as moderately shadowed organizations. Anonymous and U.S. Special Missions Units are presented as mostly shadowed collectives. For all three regions, socialization processes are examined.Less
This chapter considers the mildly, moderately, and mostly shadowed regions in the book’s framework for regionalizing organizations. The shadowed regions are similar to the dark region along any two of the three dimensions in the framework, but not all three. The chapter describes Alcoholics Anonymous and the Ku Klux Klan as mildly shadowed collectives. Skull and Bones and Jackie Evans are characterized as moderately shadowed organizations. Anonymous and U.S. Special Missions Units are presented as mostly shadowed collectives. For all three regions, socialization processes are examined.
Michael Winkelman
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195167962
- eISBN:
- 9780199850150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167962.003.0029
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
One area of American medicine in which spirituality is widely considered a vital aspect of healing is in substance abuse rehabilitation. While mainstream spiritual healing practices are found in the ...
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One area of American medicine in which spirituality is widely considered a vital aspect of healing is in substance abuse rehabilitation. While mainstream spiritual healing practices are found in the methods used by members of Alcoholics Anonymous, a variety of other spiritual practices are also used in substance abuse rehabilitation. This chapter assesses the role of community drumming and shamanic programs in healing addiction. The putative effectiveness of these practices in treating substance abuse is proposed to derive from the psychobiological dynamics of the altered states of consciousness (ASC) and other psychophysiological changes they produce. The psychobiological and psychophysiological processes underlying shamanic practices are described to illustrate their potential contributions to the resolution of addiction. Cross-cultural evidence supports the contention that shamanism is a cross-cultural phenomenon with universal features based in human psychobiology.Less
One area of American medicine in which spirituality is widely considered a vital aspect of healing is in substance abuse rehabilitation. While mainstream spiritual healing practices are found in the methods used by members of Alcoholics Anonymous, a variety of other spiritual practices are also used in substance abuse rehabilitation. This chapter assesses the role of community drumming and shamanic programs in healing addiction. The putative effectiveness of these practices in treating substance abuse is proposed to derive from the psychobiological dynamics of the altered states of consciousness (ASC) and other psychophysiological changes they produce. The psychobiological and psychophysiological processes underlying shamanic practices are described to illustrate their potential contributions to the resolution of addiction. Cross-cultural evidence supports the contention that shamanism is a cross-cultural phenomenon with universal features based in human psychobiology.
Ann Taves
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691131016
- eISBN:
- 9781400884469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691131016.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter traces the growing distinction between Bill Wilson's personal spirituality and the generic spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) through a focus on the emergence of the Twelve Steps ...
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This chapter traces the growing distinction between Bill Wilson's personal spirituality and the generic spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) through a focus on the emergence of the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. As a spiritual path, AA centers on the Twelve Steps as worked in the context of groups that maintain their unity through their embrace of the Twelve Traditions. Taken together the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions simultaneously position AA as a fellowship that is compatible—but not aligned—with either “organized religion” or “organized medicine” and grounds the recovery of the individual and the unity of the organization in the spiritual principle of anonymity.Less
This chapter traces the growing distinction between Bill Wilson's personal spirituality and the generic spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) through a focus on the emergence of the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. As a spiritual path, AA centers on the Twelve Steps as worked in the context of groups that maintain their unity through their embrace of the Twelve Traditions. Taken together the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions simultaneously position AA as a fellowship that is compatible—but not aligned—with either “organized religion” or “organized medicine” and grounds the recovery of the individual and the unity of the organization in the spiritual principle of anonymity.
Gilbert Quintero
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195136159
- eISBN:
- 9780199863921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195136159.003.0008
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter focuses on the diverse range of therapeutic options utilized by Navajos who have experienced problems related to alcohol abuse and dependency. It describes their use of formal treatment ...
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This chapter focuses on the diverse range of therapeutic options utilized by Navajos who have experienced problems related to alcohol abuse and dependency. It describes their use of formal treatment modalities such as Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as informal forms of help including family support and religious services provided by both Christian and traditional Navajo healing systems. Also considered are the antecedents reported by individuals who effectively address their drinking problems without recourse to these treatment sectors. Navajos with more severe alcohol-related difficulties were more likely to undergo formal treatment, but the use of multiple treatment sectors was common. Individuals who had been in formal treatment were no more likely to be well than those who have not, thus complicating the evaluation of the efficacy of such programs. Those who got well without formal treatment were more likely to have stable social relationships, be employed, and be more religiously active.Less
This chapter focuses on the diverse range of therapeutic options utilized by Navajos who have experienced problems related to alcohol abuse and dependency. It describes their use of formal treatment modalities such as Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as informal forms of help including family support and religious services provided by both Christian and traditional Navajo healing systems. Also considered are the antecedents reported by individuals who effectively address their drinking problems without recourse to these treatment sectors. Navajos with more severe alcohol-related difficulties were more likely to undergo formal treatment, but the use of multiple treatment sectors was common. Individuals who had been in formal treatment were no more likely to be well than those who have not, thus complicating the evaluation of the efficacy of such programs. Those who got well without formal treatment were more likely to have stable social relationships, be employed, and be more religiously active.
Ann Taves
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691131016
- eISBN:
- 9781400884469
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691131016.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Unseen presences. Apparitions. Hearing voices. Although some people would find such experiences to be distressing and seek clinical help, others perceive them as transformative. Occasionally, these ...
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Unseen presences. Apparitions. Hearing voices. Although some people would find such experiences to be distressing and seek clinical help, others perceive them as transformative. Occasionally, these unusual phenomena give rise to new spiritual paths or religious movements. This book provides fresh insights into what is perhaps the bedrock of all religious belief—the claim that otherworldly powers are active in human affairs. The book looks at Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and A Course in Miracles—three cases in which insiders claimed that a spiritual presence guided the emergence of a new spiritual path. In the 1820s, Joseph Smith, Jr. reportedly translated the Book of Mormon from ancient gold plates unearthed with the help of an angel. Bill Wilson cofounded AA after having an ecstatic experience while hospitalized for alcoholism in 1934. Helen Schucman scribed the words of an inner voice that she attributed to Jesus, which formed the basis of her 1976 best-selling self-study course. In each case, the book argues, the sense of a guiding presence emerged through a complex, creative interaction between a founding figure with unusual mental abilities and an initial set of collaborators who were drawn into the process by diverse motives of their own. This book traces the very human processes behind such events.Less
Unseen presences. Apparitions. Hearing voices. Although some people would find such experiences to be distressing and seek clinical help, others perceive them as transformative. Occasionally, these unusual phenomena give rise to new spiritual paths or religious movements. This book provides fresh insights into what is perhaps the bedrock of all religious belief—the claim that otherworldly powers are active in human affairs. The book looks at Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and A Course in Miracles—three cases in which insiders claimed that a spiritual presence guided the emergence of a new spiritual path. In the 1820s, Joseph Smith, Jr. reportedly translated the Book of Mormon from ancient gold plates unearthed with the help of an angel. Bill Wilson cofounded AA after having an ecstatic experience while hospitalized for alcoholism in 1934. Helen Schucman scribed the words of an inner voice that she attributed to Jesus, which formed the basis of her 1976 best-selling self-study course. In each case, the book argues, the sense of a guiding presence emerged through a complex, creative interaction between a founding figure with unusual mental abilities and an initial set of collaborators who were drawn into the process by diverse motives of their own. This book traces the very human processes behind such events.
Markus Heilig
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231172363
- eISBN:
- 9780231539029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231172363.003.0018
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter considers the spiritual aspects of treatment for addiction. It argues that achieving recovery from addiction is a daunting task. To date, treatments that have emerged are, with a few ...
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This chapter considers the spiritual aspects of treatment for addiction. It argues that achieving recovery from addiction is a daunting task. To date, treatments that have emerged are, with a few exceptions, only modestly effective. Even as these treatments improve, people will continue to need support outside the professional treatment setting in order to live lives that are both worthwhile and free of alcohol and drugs. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a major resource where countless patients find support for a drug-free life. However, because of its spiritual focus, AA is not for everyone. Other options may be a better match. The chapter also describes the Minnesota Model which has become most widespread model for addiction treatment worldwide.Less
This chapter considers the spiritual aspects of treatment for addiction. It argues that achieving recovery from addiction is a daunting task. To date, treatments that have emerged are, with a few exceptions, only modestly effective. Even as these treatments improve, people will continue to need support outside the professional treatment setting in order to live lives that are both worthwhile and free of alcohol and drugs. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a major resource where countless patients find support for a drug-free life. However, because of its spiritual focus, AA is not for everyone. Other options may be a better match. The chapter also describes the Minnesota Model which has become most widespread model for addiction treatment worldwide.
Ann Taves
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691131016
- eISBN:
- 9781400884469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691131016.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
In 1934, Bill Wilson (1895–1971), a (failed) stockbroker, had an ecstatic experience of a blinding white light while hospitalized for alcoholism, which he associated with the feeling of a “presence” ...
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In 1934, Bill Wilson (1895–1971), a (failed) stockbroker, had an ecstatic experience of a blinding white light while hospitalized for alcoholism, which he associated with the feeling of a “presence” and which gave rise to a vision of a “chain reaction of alcoholics, one carrying this message and these principles to the next.” The vision led to the anonymously authored “Big Book” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st edn., 1939) and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (1953) of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This chapter analyzes how Wilson told and retold his story publicly in the context of AA in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It traces the emergence of a gap between Wilson's personal version of his story and his public account of AA's beginnings.Less
In 1934, Bill Wilson (1895–1971), a (failed) stockbroker, had an ecstatic experience of a blinding white light while hospitalized for alcoholism, which he associated with the feeling of a “presence” and which gave rise to a vision of a “chain reaction of alcoholics, one carrying this message and these principles to the next.” The vision led to the anonymously authored “Big Book” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st edn., 1939) and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (1953) of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This chapter analyzes how Wilson told and retold his story publicly in the context of AA in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It traces the emergence of a gap between Wilson's personal version of his story and his public account of AA's beginnings.
Ann Taves
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691131016
- eISBN:
- 9781400884469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691131016.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book analyzes the role of revelatory claims in three groups that emerged in the United States in the nineteenth and ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book analyzes the role of revelatory claims in three groups that emerged in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the network of students associated with A Course in Miracles. These three case studies are not only richly documented but also present intriguing comparative possibilities. Each had a key figure whose unusual experiences and/or abilities led to the emergence of a new spiritual path and to the production of scripture-like texts that were not attributed directly to them. However, the three groups do not make the same claims for their scripture-like texts, and their respective collaborations generated very different social formations.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book analyzes the role of revelatory claims in three groups that emerged in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the network of students associated with A Course in Miracles. These three case studies are not only richly documented but also present intriguing comparative possibilities. Each had a key figure whose unusual experiences and/or abilities led to the emergence of a new spiritual path and to the production of scripture-like texts that were not attributed directly to them. However, the three groups do not make the same claims for their scripture-like texts, and their respective collaborations generated very different social formations.
Peter A. Bamberger, Samuel B. Bacharach, Kathleen A. Briggs, and Meira Ben-Gad
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199374120
- eISBN:
- 9780190216894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199374120.003.0007
- Subject:
- Psychology, Health Psychology
Drawing from insights gleaned in earlier chapters regarding the relationship between retirement and substance misuse, this chapter explores interventions aimed at preventing or treating such problems ...
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Drawing from insights gleaned in earlier chapters regarding the relationship between retirement and substance misuse, this chapter explores interventions aimed at preventing or treating such problems in older adults. More specifically, the chapter describes and reviews the evidence regarding the efficacy of three main psychosocial interventions for older adult substance misuse, namely, screening and brief interventions in the primary care setting, cognitive behavioral therapy, and group therapy programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. After conducting a similar review and analysis of pharmaceutical therapies, the chapter explores the challenges and efficacy of applying workplace assistance models to prevent and treat substance misuse among older workers and retirees. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications for human resource management in contemporary organizations and, in particular, those employing so-called bridge retirees.Less
Drawing from insights gleaned in earlier chapters regarding the relationship between retirement and substance misuse, this chapter explores interventions aimed at preventing or treating such problems in older adults. More specifically, the chapter describes and reviews the evidence regarding the efficacy of three main psychosocial interventions for older adult substance misuse, namely, screening and brief interventions in the primary care setting, cognitive behavioral therapy, and group therapy programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. After conducting a similar review and analysis of pharmaceutical therapies, the chapter explores the challenges and efficacy of applying workplace assistance models to prevent and treat substance misuse among older workers and retirees. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications for human resource management in contemporary organizations and, in particular, those employing so-called bridge retirees.
Ann Taves
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691131016
- eISBN:
- 9781400884469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691131016.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter considers Bill Wilson's personal spiritual journey, focusing on the personal views that he downplayed for the sake of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Personally, Wilson did not view his ...
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This chapter considers Bill Wilson's personal spiritual journey, focusing on the personal views that he downplayed for the sake of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Personally, Wilson did not view his sudden experience as the great event that transformed his life simply because it released him from his alcoholic cravings (the AA perspective), but also as an opening to another reality that convinced him of certain spiritual facts and initiated a lifelong process of psychospiritual investigation that included spiritualism, parapsychology, Catholicism, mysticism, and LSD. Whereas AA embodied a tacit perennialism in its structure and organization that could be overridden by various theological perspectives, Wilson was an explicit perennialist with Catholic proclivities who viewed his own unusual experiences—spiritualist, mystical, and drug-induced—as different ways of entering into the unseen Reality.Less
This chapter considers Bill Wilson's personal spiritual journey, focusing on the personal views that he downplayed for the sake of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Personally, Wilson did not view his sudden experience as the great event that transformed his life simply because it released him from his alcoholic cravings (the AA perspective), but also as an opening to another reality that convinced him of certain spiritual facts and initiated a lifelong process of psychospiritual investigation that included spiritualism, parapsychology, Catholicism, mysticism, and LSD. Whereas AA embodied a tacit perennialism in its structure and organization that could be overridden by various theological perspectives, Wilson was an explicit perennialist with Catholic proclivities who viewed his own unusual experiences—spiritualist, mystical, and drug-induced—as different ways of entering into the unseen Reality.
Donna Sinclair
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042003
- eISBN:
- 9780252050749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042003.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter focuses on the personal, social, and historical contexts that shaped Donna Sinclair’s career as a feminist historian. The story of Sinclair’s trek to the 2013 Prelinger Award took root ...
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This chapter focuses on the personal, social, and historical contexts that shaped Donna Sinclair’s career as a feminist historian. The story of Sinclair’s trek to the 2013 Prelinger Award took root in a divorce that left the former army wife alone with three small children. Returning to school reshaped her identity, provided purpose, and led to her life’s work as an oral and public historian, educator, and social justice advocate. In this essay, Sinclair engages in the self-scrutiny that oral historians so often ask of their narrators. As recommended by Antonia Castaňeda, she digs into “the silences, gaps, and interstitial spaces” of experience to examine her journey to the Prelinger and beyond.Less
This chapter focuses on the personal, social, and historical contexts that shaped Donna Sinclair’s career as a feminist historian. The story of Sinclair’s trek to the 2013 Prelinger Award took root in a divorce that left the former army wife alone with three small children. Returning to school reshaped her identity, provided purpose, and led to her life’s work as an oral and public historian, educator, and social justice advocate. In this essay, Sinclair engages in the self-scrutiny that oral historians so often ask of their narrators. As recommended by Antonia Castaňeda, she digs into “the silences, gaps, and interstitial spaces” of experience to examine her journey to the Prelinger and beyond.
David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195395143
- eISBN:
- 9780190255763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195395143.003.0007
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter discusses the ways in which to avoid the pain-passing trap. It presents answers within religious traditions that might be useful to readers who are interested in stopping the cycle of ...
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This chapter discusses the ways in which to avoid the pain-passing trap. It presents answers within religious traditions that might be useful to readers who are interested in stopping the cycle of retaliation, revenge and redirected aggression, and who may be committed to one religious tradition or another. It covers the Jewish Way (Halakah), some Christian ways, the way of Alcoholics Anonymous, the way of Islam, Gandhi's way, the Buddhist way, the way of psychology and physiology, the game theorist's way, the economist's way, the psychiatrist's way, the way of apology, and the way of the world.Less
This chapter discusses the ways in which to avoid the pain-passing trap. It presents answers within religious traditions that might be useful to readers who are interested in stopping the cycle of retaliation, revenge and redirected aggression, and who may be committed to one religious tradition or another. It covers the Jewish Way (Halakah), some Christian ways, the way of Alcoholics Anonymous, the way of Islam, Gandhi's way, the Buddhist way, the way of psychology and physiology, the game theorist's way, the economist's way, the psychiatrist's way, the way of apology, and the way of the world.
