Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an association of alcohol-dependent persons devoted to the achievement and maintenance of sobriety of its members through self-help and mutual support. AA has been deemed helpful for many problem drinkers, and referral to it by treatment providers is common. The program is widely known for its “12 steps” to recovery; its principles include a firm belief in God or higher power, frank self appraisals, willingness to admit and correct wrongs done to others, and a dedication to assisting others who seek to conquer their own alcoholism. Despite its popularity, little is known about why it leads to abstinence. In fact, research on the effectiveness of AA is controversial and subject to divergent interpretations (Kelly et al. 2009). Although treatment providers and juvenile court systems have recommended AA-type programs for adolescents, whether it is appropriate to do so and whether they can be effective, at least in its dominant form, remains debatable....
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Kelly, J. F., Magill, J., & Stout, R. L. (2009). How do people recover from alcohol dependence? A systematic review of the research on mechanisms of behavior change in Alcoholics Anonymous. Addiction Research & Theory, 17, 236–259.
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Levesque, R. J. R. (2002). Not by faith alone: Religion, adolescence and the law. New York: New York University Press.
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Levesque, R.J.R. (2011). Alcoholics Anonymous. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_490
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