Editing Alcoholics Anonymous (section)

==Criticism and controversy ==

=== Zoombombing ===
[[Zoombombing]] emerged as a significant challenge for AA meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many groups moved online.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=O'Kane |first=Caitlin |date=2020-04-01 |title=Now that AA meetings have to be held digitally, people are breaking in and harassing recovering alcoholics - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zoom-bombing-alcoholics-anonymous-meetings-coronavirus/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Disruptive individuals often infiltrated these virtual meetings, harassing participants and sharing inappropriate content.<ref name=":4" /> Some AA members experienced racial hatred.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richard-Craven |first=Maya |title=Racism triggers me to drink, but Zoom-bombers won't let me be Black in AA meetings |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/08/15/racism-zoom-meetings-alcoholics-anonymous-bombers/8128700002/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> This intrusion undermined the safe, supportive environment essential for recovery, raising concerns about privacy and security. In response, AA groups and Zoom implemented stricter access controls and guidelines to protect participants and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for those seeking help.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ovide |first=Shira |date=2023-01-30 |title=Remember Zoom-bombing? This is how Zoom tamed meeting intrusions. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/24/zoom-bombing-prevention-tips/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

=== Disease model ===
Though AA usually avoids the term ''disease''{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}, 1973 conference-approved literature said "we had the disease of alcoholism",<ref>{{citation |title=Is A.A. for You? |date=11 January 2017 |url=http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-3_isaaforyou.pdf |access-date=14 May 2017 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-3_isaaforyou.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |location=New York |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services}}{{better source needed|reason=original 1973 version needed|date=May 2017}}</ref> while ''Living Sober'', published in 1975, contains several references to alcoholism as a disease,<ref name="LivingSober">{{cite book |title=Living Sober |year=1975 |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services|isbn=978-0-916856-04-5}}</ref>{{rp|23, 32, 40}} including a chapter urging the reader to "Remember that alcoholism is an incurable, progressive, fatal disease".<ref name=LivingSober />{{rp|7–10}} Regardless of official positions, since AA's inception, most members have believed alcoholism to be a disease.<ref name="bhrm.org" /> Its association with AA, as well as a good deal of its broader acceptance, stems from many members propagating it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=Ernest |year=2002 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous and the Disease Concept of Alcoholism |url=https://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/Dr.%20Ernie%20Kurtz%20on%20AA%20%26%20the%20Disease%20Concept%2C%202002.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=20 |issue=3–4 |pages=5–39 |doi=10.1300/j020v20n03_02 |issn=0734-7324 |s2cid=144972034 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126121627/https://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/Dr.%20Ernie%20Kurtz%20on%20AA%20%26%20the%20Disease%20Concept%2C%202002.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-26}}</ref>

Bill Wilson explained in 1960 why AA had refrained from using the term ''disease'':{{blockquote|We AAs have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking, it is not a disease entity. For example, there is no such thing as heart disease. Instead, there are many separate heart ailments or combinations of them. It is something like that with alcoholism. Therefore, we did not wish to get in wrong with the medical profession by pronouncing alcoholism a disease entity. Hence, we have always called it an illness or a malady—a far safer term for us to use.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gately |first=Iain |date=2008 |title=Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol |publisher=Penguin Group |page=[https://archive.org/details/drinkculturalhis00gate_0/page/417 417] |isbn=9781592403035 |url=https://archive.org/details/drinkculturalhis00gate_0/page/417 }}</ref>}}

===13th-step and sexual advances ===
<!-- "Thirteenth Stepping" redirects to this section -->
'''"Thirteenth-stepping"''' is a term used to describe a predatory behavior in AA where some individuals exploit vulnerable members for sexual relationships. This can involve unwanted advances and harassment, often targeting newer members who may be more susceptible due to their recovery status.<ref>{{Cite web |title=After the 12-Step Program, Avoid the Dangerous Step 13 {{!}} Psychology Today |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dating-and-mating/202307/after-the-12-step-program-avoid-the-dangerous-13th-step |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2003, a study in the ''Journal of Addiction Nursing'' sampled 55 women in AA and found that 35% of these women had experienced a "pass" and 29% had felt seduced at least once in AA settings. This has also happened with new male members who received guidance from older female AA members pursuing sexual company. The authors suggest that both men and women must be prepared for this behavior or find male or female-only groups.<ref name="BOGART2003">{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Addictions Nursing: A Journal for the Prevention and Management of Addictions |title='13th-Stepping:' Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Not Always a Safe Place for Women |last1=Bogart |first1=Cathy J. |year=2003 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=43–47 |doi=10.1080/10884600305373 |issn=1548-7148 |oclc=34618968 |last2=Bogart |first2=Cathy J.|s2cid=144935254 }}</ref>

==== Response ====
As of 2010, women-only meetings are a very prevalent part of AA culture, and AA has become more welcoming for women.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/15560350903543766|title=Acknowledging Gender in Women-Only Meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous|journal=Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery|volume=5|pages=17–33|year=2010|last1=Sanders|first1=Jolene M.|s2cid=144776540|quote=AA has evolved in a dialectical fashion to become more accommodating to women}}</ref> AA's pamphlet on sponsorship suggests that men be sponsored by men and women be sponsored by women.<ref>Questions and Answers on Sponsorship, page 10. 2005.</ref> AA also has a safety flier which states that "Unwanted sexual advances and predatory behaviors are in conflict with carrying the AA message of recovery".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.org/safety-and-aa-flyer|title=Safety and A.A. Flyer|publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services}}</ref>

===Criticism of culture===
{{see also|Alcoholism#Management}}

[[Stanton Peele]] argued that some AA groups apply the [[Disease model of addiction|disease model]] to all problem drinkers, whether or not they are "full-blown" alcoholics.{{sfn|Peele|1999}} Along with Nancy Shute, Peele has advocated that besides AA, other options should be readily available to those problem drinkers who can manage their drinking with the right treatment.<ref name="SHUTE1997">{{cite journal | last = Shute | first = Nancy | title = The drinking dilemma: by calling abstinence the only cure, we ensure that the nation's $100 billion alcohol problem won't be solved | journal = [[U.S. News & World Report]] | volume = 123 | issue = 9 |date=September 1997 | pages = 54–64 |url=http://silkworth.net/magazine_newspaper/us_news_world_report_sep_8_1997.html}}</ref> The Big Book says "moderate drinkers" and "a certain type of hard drinker" can stop or moderate their drinking. The Big Book suggests no program for these drinkers, but instead seeks to help drinkers without "power of choice in drink".<ref>''Alcoholics Anonymous'' page 20-1,24</ref>

In 1983, a review stated that the AA program's focus on admission of having a problem increases deviant [[Stigma (sociological theory)|stigma]] and strips members of their previous [[cultural identity]], replacing it with the deviant identity.<ref name="LEVINSON1983">{{cite book | last = Levinson | first = D | title = Genetics Behavioral Treatment Social Mediators and Prevention Current Concepts in Diagnosis | chapter = Current Status of the Field: An Anthropological Perspective on the Behavior Modification Treatment of Alcoholism | series = Recent Developments in Alcoholism | year = 1983 | pages = 55–261 | location = New York | publisher = Plenum Press | volume = 1 | editor = Galanter, Marc | issn = 0738-422X | pmid = 6680227 | doi=10.1007/978-1-4613-3617-4_14| isbn = 978-1-4613-3619-8 }}</ref> A 1985 study based on observations of AA meetings warned of detrimental [[iatrogenesis|iatrogenic]] effects of the twelve-step philosophy and concluded that AA uses many methods that are also used by cults.<ref name="ALEXANDER1984">{{cite journal|last1=Alexander |first1=F |first2=M |last2=Rollins |year=1985 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous: the unseen cult |journal=California Sociologist |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=33–48 |issn=0162-8712 |oclc=4025459 |location=Los Angeles |publisher=[[California State University]] |url=http://www.silkworth.net/sociology/Soc63OCR.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201224839/http://silkworth.net/sociology/Soc63OCR.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2010 |access-date=12 December 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> A later review disagreed, stating that AA's program bore little resemblance to religious cult practices.<ref name="WRIGHT1997">{{cite journal |title=Shared Ideology in Alcoholics Anonymous: A Grounded Theory Approach |doi=10.1080/108107397127806 |year=1997 |last1=Right |first1=KB |journal=Journal of Health Communication |volume=2 |pmid=10977242 |issue=2 |pages=83–99}}</ref> In 2014, [[George Eman Vaillant]] published a paper making the case that Alcoholics Anonymous is not a cult.<ref name="Vaillant2014">{{cite journal|
doi=10.1080/07347324.2014.907032|
title=Positive Emotions and the Success of Alcoholics Anonymous|
last1=Vaillant|first1=George|year=2014|
journal=Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly|
volume=32|
issue=2–3|
pages=214–224|
s2cid=144153785|
quote=What differentiates AA from universities, religions, and, of course, cults, is that AA, by experimentation during its first few years and perhaps guided by the outcomes of the alcoholics whom it was trying to heal, evolved along the lines of biological spirituality, not superstitious religion or institutional greed.}}</ref>

=== Spirituality ===
Some have criticized 12-step programs as "a cult that relies on God as the mechanism of action"<ref name="Kaskutas2009">{{cite journal |last1=Kaskutas |first1=Lee Ann |date=2 April 2009 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous Effectiveness: Faith Meets Science |url= |journal=Journal of Addictive Diseases |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=145–157 |doi=10.1080/10550880902772464 |issn=1055-0887 |eissn=1545-0848 |pmc=2746426 |pmid=19340677}}</ref> and as "overly theistic and outdated".<ref name="Lilienfeld2015" /> Others have cited the necessity of a "higher power" (an "HP") in formal AA as creating dependence on outside factors rather than internal efficacy.<ref name="Lilienfeld2015" /><ref>
{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Shelly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RvXDQAAQBAJ |title=Young Sober and Free: Experience, Strength, and Hope for Young Adults |date=26 May 2010 |publisher=Hazelden Publishing |isbn=9781592859283 |edition=2 |location=Center City, Minnesota |page= |chapter=We've All Been Hung Up on God |quote=We believe that for every hardship, every temptation, the Creative Forces of the Universe have provided a way out. For us, it is Twelve Step programs. [...] Osmosis won't work, neither will another person's concept of Higher Power (HP) necessarily work for you for any length of time. In the beginning, you might try using your sponsor's HP. |access-date=27 August 2024 |orig-date=1978}} 
</ref> Gabrielle Glaser criticized 12-step programs for being "faith-based",<ref name=":0" /> but 12-step programs allow for a very wide diversity of spiritual beliefs, and there are a growing number of secular 12-step meetings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Galanter |first1=Marc |last2=White |first2=William L. |last3=Ziegler |first3=Penelope P. |last4=Hunter |first4=Brooke |year=2020 |title=An empirical study on the construct of "God" in the Twelve Step process |journal=The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=731–738 |doi=10.1080/00952990.2020.1789870 |pmid=32870030 |s2cid=221403749 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The "God" Word: Agnostic and Atheist Members in A.A. |url=https://www.aa.org/god-word-agnostic-and-atheist-members-aa |publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous World Services}}</ref>

==== Secular meetings in Toronto controversy ====
Reception to secular 12 step meetings from within AA has been mixed. In 2011, secular meetings in Toronto, where the 12 steps were altered to remove references to God and prayer, were delisted from the Toronto AA online and print directories, effectively removing them from the network of meetings. They appealed this decision, but were rejected, leading to a complaint to the [[Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario]]. The Toronto co-ordinating body, the Greater Toronto Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous, argued both that as a special interest group they have the right to restrict its membership, and that a belief in God is a requirement for groups in Toronto. Mediation between the two groups resulted in the delisted groups being listed again, however the secular groups would be required to not alter the 12 steps.<ref name="GuardianSecular">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/08/alcoholics-anonymous-canada-religion-secular-groups-aa|first=Ashifa|last=Kassam|access-date=2024-09-25|date=2016-11-08|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Secular groups fight exclusion from AA: 'The best support system in the world'}}</ref><ref name="GlobeAndMail">{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/organizing-body-of-alcoholics-anonymous-in-gta-opens-doors-to-secular-groups/article33920196/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209174635/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/organizing-body-of-alcoholics-anonymous-in-gta-opens-doors-to-secular-groups/article33920196/ |first=Patrick|last=White|access-date=2024-09-25|date=2017-02-07|archive-date=2017-02-09|title=After 3-year fight, AA body backs down on 'God or gone' stance|publisher=[[The Globe And Mail]]}}</ref>

=== Lawsuits and court rulings ===
{{see also|Rational Recovery#Court-mandated twelve-step program attendance}}

==== Privileged communication ====
In the Fifth Step, AA members typically reveal their own past misconduct to their sponsors. US courts have not extended the status of [[privileged communication]], such as [[physician-patient privilege]] or [[priest–penitent privilege|clergy–penitent privilege]], to communications between an AA member and their sponsor.<ref name="COLEMAN2005">{{cite journal |last=Coleman |first=Phyllis |date=December 2005 |title=Privilege and Confidentiality in 12-Step Self-Help Programs: Believing The Promises Could Be Hazardous to an Addict's Freedom |journal=The Journal of Legal Medicine |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=435–474 |doi=10.1080/01947640500364713 |issn=0194-7648 |oclc=4997813 |pmid=16303734 |s2cid=31742544}}</ref><ref name="HOFFMAN1994">{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Jan |date=15 June 1994 |title=Faith in Confidentiality of Therapy Is Shaken |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/15/nyregion/faith-in-confidentiality-of-therapy-is-shaken.html |access-date=23 October 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

==== Court rulings on mandatory attendance ====
United States courts have ruled that inmates, parolees, and probationers cannot be ordered to attend AA. Though AA itself was not deemed a religion, it was ruled that it contained ''enough'' religious components (variously described in ''Griffin v. Coughlin'' below as, inter alia, "religion", "religious activity", "religious exercise") to make coerced attendance at AA meetings a violation of the [[Establishment Clause]] of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] of the constitution.<ref name="NYCTAP">{{cite web |author=Judge Levine |date=11 June 1996 |title=In the Matter of David Griffin, Appellant, v. Thomas A. Coughlin III, As Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, et al., Respondents. |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I96_0137.htm |access-date=17 December 2016 |publisher=Legal Information Institute}}</ref><ref name="HONEYMAR1997">{{cite journal |author=Honeymar |year=1997 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous As a Condition of Drunk Driving Probation: When Does It Amount to Establishment of Religion |journal=Columbia Law Review |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=437–472 |doi=10.2307/1123367 |jstor=1123367}}</ref> In 2007, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals]] stated that a parolee who was ordered to attend AA had standing to sue his parole office.<ref name="EGELKO2007">{{cite news |last=Egelko |first=Bob |date=8 September 2007 |title=Appeals court says requirement to attend AA unconstitutional |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/08/BA99S1AKQ.DTL |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004010513/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F09%2F08%2FBA99S1AKQ.DTL |archive-date=4 October 2009 |access-date=8 October 2007 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref><ref name="Inouye-v-Kemna">{{cite court|litigants=Inouye v. Kemna|vol=504|reporter=F.3d|opinion=705|pinpoint=714 <abbr title="note">n</abbr>.9|court=9th Cir.|year=2007|quote=[T]he AA/[[Narcotics Anonymous|NA]] program involved here has such substantial religious components that governmentally compelled participation in it violated the [[Establishment Clause]].|url=http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/09/07/0615474.pdf#page=11|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/09/07/0615474.pdf#page=11|url-status=live|archive-date=2022-10-09}}</ref>

==== Family lawsuit ====
The family of Karla Mendez, who was murdered in 2011 by a man she met at an AA meeting, filed a civil lawsuit in 2012 against AA asserting AA had a "reckless disregard for, and deliberate indifference...to the safety and security of victims attending AA meetings who are repeatedly preyed upon at those meetings by financial, violent, and sexual predators...".<ref>{{Cite web |last=ProPublica |date=2014-11-29 |title=Twelve Steps to Danger: How Alcoholics Anonymous Can Be a Playground for Violence-Prone Members |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/how-alcoholics-anonymous-can-be-a-playground-for-violence |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 November 2014 |title=The Sober Truth - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-sober-truth-3/ |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The lawsuit against AA was dismissed in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marino |first=Enzo |date=2016-01-15 |title=Judge Dismisses Alcoholics Anonymous In Saugus Wrongful Death Lawsuit |url=https://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/crime/judge-dismisses-alcoholics-anonymous-in-saugus-wrongful-death-lawsuit-166060 |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=KHTS Radio |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Case BC492735 Hector Mendez Et Al Vs Eric Allen Earle Et Al - Trellis: Legal Intelligence + Judicial Analytics |url=https://trellis.law/case/bc492735/hector-mendez-et-al-vs-eric-allen-earle-et-al |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Trellis.Law |language=en}}</ref>

==== Big Book manuscript case ====
In May 2017, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc. filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York seeking the return of the original manuscript of the Big Book from its then-owner. AAWS claimed that the manuscript had been given to them as a gift in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-05-22 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous sues to recover original manuscript |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alcoholicsanonymous-lawsuit-idUSKBN18I299 |access-date=2023-08-15 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>  This action was criticized by many members of Alcoholics Anonymous since they didn't want their parent organization engaged in lawsuits.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/alcoholics-anonymous-goes-to-court-and-its-members-are-livid Michael Levin "Alcoholics Anonymous goes to court (and its members are livid)" Fox News Opinion, 7 June 2017]</ref>  Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc. asked the court to voluntarily discontinue the action in November 2017.<ref>[https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=ORMDO6sUPZm2v_PLUS_KanPVGzQ==&system=prod "PLAINTIFF’S MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO VOLUNTARILY DISCONTINUE THIS ACTION PURSUANT TO CPLR 3217(b)" filed 27 November 2017]</ref>