More Revealed

AA: Cult or Cure?

Preface

to Second Edition

In the nearly seven years since the first edition of this book appeared, my views on AA have shifted considerably. There's a very simple reason for this: I've learned more about AA.

I have several AA members to thank for prodding me into that learning. When the first edition of AA: Cult or Cure? hit the shelves, I did a large num­ber of radio interviews to promote the book, and many of these interviews took place on call-in programs. At the time, my message was mild: no, AA isn't a cult, though it has cult-like aspects; there are good things about it, notably its structure and traditions; it's religious, not spiritual; the available evidence indicates that it doesn't work very well; and there are probably better alternatives to it. Many of the AA members who called during my interviews were polite and respectful, and wanted to discuss issues. But a fair number of others were just the opposite. They had no interest in discussing issues—all that they wanted to do was to attack me personally. I particularly remember one fake-friendly caller who, after bragging about his time sober, accused me of lying purely for personal profit, and ended his ad hominem attack with, "You sound might thirsty to me!" I remember another vociferous defender of AA, on another program, who insisted that AA was the only route to recovery and that it had worked beautifully for him, but who was obviously drunk when he called.

At about the same time, newspaper and journal book reviews began to appear, and I fairly quickly noticed a pattern: those written by addictions "professionals" were extremely negative, and in two cases, it seemed to me, deliberately misrepresented what I'd said. As well, from their assertions and phraseology, I felt quite sure that the authors of these reviews were members of AA, but hadn't revealed it to their readers. I felt outraged by this. It seemed to me that their behavior was simply dishonest. I considered it— and still consider it—cowardly and deliberately deceptive.

Taken together, these two things—the sheer hatefulness of many of the pro-AA talk show callers and the hatchet-job reviews by AA members who hid their affiliation with AA—caused me to begin to question my own conclusions about AA's relative harmlessness. I started to wonder whether there was more to AA than had met my eye; and I planned to investigate AA further. But I had other writing and publishing projects in the works, so I let the matter rest.

Over the next several years, I began to publish alcohol-related books by other authors, and I learned a considerable amount by working with them. In particular, Vince Fox (Addiction, Change & Choice) showed me that the way AA's supporters had treated me was hardly out of the ordinary. From Audrey Kishline (Moderate Drinking: The New Option for Problem Drinkers—now published by Crown Books), I learned how damaging 12-step "treatment" is for many people. And from Ken Ragge (The Real AA), I gained a much better understanding of AA's indoctrination program. The writings of many other writers were also useful to me in deepening my knowledge of AA; in particular, I should acknowledge the writings of Stanton Peele and Jack Trimpey here.

Finally, about a year ago, I began to work on this second edition of AA: Cult or Cure? with the determination that I would do a much more thorough examination of AA this time. As a result, I went back over my old research, and I spent hundreds of hours reading additional books and journal articles, prowling around addictions-related web sites, talking with non-12-step professionals, and interviewing former 12-step-treatment patients and "therapists." In June, I began to write this second edition, and gradually a much more comprehensive portrait of AA emerged than I had painted in the first edition; but it's also a much darker portrait.

One indication of how much more comprehensive this edition is than the first edition is its sheer size: the new text is roughly 50% longer than the first edition. Significant new material appears in a good majority of the chapters, and good portions of the book are entirely new. I've added a new chapter ("AA's Influence on Society"—the longest chapter in the book), a new appendix ("AA and the Law"—which deals with coerced attendance), and a much-expanded appendix on the secular self-help groups, in which they present themselves in their own words.

Some defenders of AA will undoubtedly complain that virtually all of the new information and new analysis presented here reflects badly on AA, and is, in fact, "AA bashing." All that I can say in reply is that, as in the first edition of this book, I've done my best to honestly present and evaluate the available evidence. As well, it's not terribly surprising that the bulk of the new evidence is unfavorable to AA. AA has a well-oiled propaganda machine that loudly trumpets every finding and assertion favorable to AA, 12-step treatment, and the disease concept of alcoholism. This material is readily available, to say the least. In contrast, evidence that reflects badly on AA is often hidden away in obscure professional journals and government reports. Thus, by digging deeper this time, I found much new negative evidence and little new positive evidence regarding AA.

It's also well to remember that in addition to AA itself, there are literally hundreds of presses churning out pro-AA/pro-12-step titles. These presses have published thousands of pro-AA titles in recent years, and almost all chain bookstores carry dozens if not hundreds of such works. In contrast, only a handful of books critical of AA and the 12-step approach to addic­tions have appeared over the past decade. Amazingly, See Sharp Press is the only publisher in the country specializing in books critical of AA and 12-step treatment, and advocating alternative approaches. So, if the material in this book didn't appear here, it almost certainly wouldn't appear elsewhere.

To put the matter a bit differently, because of the preponderance of pro-AA/pro-12-step materials, there's value in pointing out that the emperor (AA) wears no clothes. It helps to produce a more balanced, more realistic public view.

As for the new findings in this edition, probably the most significant is that AA is not what it presents itself to be. (I took AA largely at face value when I wrote the first edition of this book). AA portrays itself as an all­volunteer organization (except for a few paid service workers) whose only goal is to help alcoholics—an organization that innocently offers its program on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

The facts paint a very different picture. At present, fully a third, probably over 40%, of AA's members are—or at least were originally—coerced into attendance (by the courts, prisons, employers, and professional diversion programs). As well, more than half a million Americans per year are forced into 12-step "treatment" by these same agencies. These coerced individuals constitute a majority of those undergoing "treatment"; and a great many of them are required to attend "aftercare" (that is, AA) after "treatment." Thus, lily-white AA, the program built on "attraction rather than promo­tion," is actually a program built on massive coercion.

AA's approach to researchers, critics, and alternative programs is equally hypocritical. While carefully cultivating its take-it-or-leave-it image, AA has taken pains to ensure that it's the only game in town. AA members have set up "educational" and "medical" front groups to promote AA and its ide­ology (especially the 12 steps and the disease concept of alcoholism). In addition to promoting AA and its concepts, the hidden AA members (in "professional" guise) in these front groups have repeatedly and viciously attacked critics of AA and researchers who've published findings contrary to AA dogma. They have also attempted to suppress alternative alcoholism treatment approaches—and to a great extent they've succeeded.(See Chapter 8 for a detailed discussion of all these points.)

I feel that it's healthy to point out these things—I believe that the public has a right to know and a need to know the facts about Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-step treatment industry.

Others will undoubtedly disagree.


 
 

—Charles Bufe, November 28, 1997


 
 

 
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank all those who helped me in my research efforts for this second edition: Paul Amyx, Chris Cornutt, Vince Fox, Earl Lee, Stanton Peele, Ken Ragge, Jeffrey Schaler, Jack Trimpey, and Emmett Velten. This book is far better than it would other­wise have been because of the valuable contributions of all of these indi­viduals. I would particularly like to thank Stanton Peele and Lynaea Search for their many useful comments, suggestions, and criticisms during the writing of this book. My thanks also to all those who contributed personal stories and anecdotes about the treatment industry, but whom I didn't quote in the book; their input was very valuable in giving me a fuller, more personal understanding of 12-step treatment.


 
 

A NOTE ON LANGUAGE: Throughout this book I've attempted to use gender-neutral language where possible. Unfortunately, in a few places, such as passages leading out of quoted material, it would have been awkward to do so; in such places, I chose what I consider the lesser of two evils and opted for masculine pronouns rather than clumsy constructions.