#REDIRECT Twelve-step program
A twelve-step program is a self-help group whose members attempt recovery from various addiction and compulsion through the use of a plan referred to as the "twelve steps". ==Characteristics== All twelve-step programs follow some version of the twelve steps. They meet regularly to discuss their problems and share their victories. One of the most widely-recognized characteristics of twelve-step groups is the requirement that members admit that they "have a problem". In this spirit, many members open their address to the group along the lines of, "Hi, I'm David, and I'm an alcoholic" — a catchphrase now widely identified with support groups. Visitors to group meetings share their experiences, challenge successes and failures, and provide peer support for each other. Many people who have joined these groups report they found success that previously eluded them, while others — including some ex-members — criticize their efficacy or universal applicability. ==The twelve steps== The twelve steps for Alcoholics Anonymous are as follows. # We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. # Came to Belief that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. # Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God ''as we understood Him''. # Made a searching and fearless morality inventory of ourselves. # Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. # Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of Moral character . # Humility asked Him to remove our shortcomings. # Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. # Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. # Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. # Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our Consciousness contact with God, ''as we understood Him'', praying only for knowledge of His Will (philosophy) for us and the Power (sociology) to carry that out. # Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs. ([http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/default/en_about_aa_sub.cfm?subpageid=76&pageid=12 Source: Alcoholics Anonymous]) Other twelve-step groups have modified these steps slightly to refer to problems other than alcoholism. ==History== The first such program was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which was begun in 1935 by William Griffith Wilson and Bob Smith (doctor) . He established the tradition within the "Anonymous" 12-step programs of using only his first name. The 12 Steps were originally written by Wilson and other early members of AA to codify the process that they felt had worked for them personally. The 12 steps were essentially a rewriting of the 6 steps of the Oxford Group with whom Bill Wilson had contact. This "codex" is the book "Alcoholics Anonymous", often referred to as the "Big Book". The twelve steps were eventually matched with twelve traditions, a set of guidelines for running individual groups and a sort of constitution for the program (eg, AA) as a whole. Many other programs since have adapted AA's original steps to their own ends. Related programs exist to help family and friends of those with addictions. These programs also follow modified versions of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. One organization which is often confused with an "Anonymous" 12-step program, due to the intentional similarity of its name — but is ''not'' one — is Narconon. Narconon is a branch of the Church of Scientology, presenting Scientology doctrine and practices as a therapy for drug abusers. Narconon does not use the 12 steps, and is not related to Narcotics Anonymous. == Relation to religion == A primary belief of members is that their success is based on giving up on self-reliance and willpower, and instead relying on God, or a "Higher Power". Critics of these programs, however, often hold that this reliance is ineffective, and offensive or inapplicable to atheists and others who do not believe in a salvific deity. Proponents of 12-step programs argue that many atheists have been helped by the program. The role of religion in 12-step groups is an argument of significance in some parts of the United States, where the criminal justice system has held out group participation to inmate addicts as a condition of parole or shortened sentences. Governments in the U.S. are disallowed under the First Amendment from granting privilege to religious belief. Thus, if 12-step groups are religious (which some people believe a facial reading of the 12 steps makes plain) then this condition is unconstitutional. Members of 12-step groups commonly attempt to finesse this conflict by making the semantic distinction that they are "spiritual, but not religious." Some critics — again, particularly atheists and humanists — also question directly the idea of giving up on self-reliance, which can be seen as a form of idealized despair. Secular alternatives to 12-step programs, such as Rational Recovery, are for this reason in many ways opposite to the 12-step process. Others, such as YES Recovery, acknowledge a debt to the 12 Steps movement but do not have a culture of belief in God. As with the Bible and other similar texts, there are many different ways of interpreting the intent behind 12-step programs. And as with the Bible, there are those who argue strongly for a relatively literal adherence to program literature (often referred to as "Big Book Thumpers"), and then there are those who take the big book admonition to "take what you like and leave the rest" very seriously and advocate a much more liberal approach, which also leaves much room for personal interpretations of 12-step literature. Two books that look at the 12-step literature from a more liberal point of view are ''The Zen of Recovery'' by Mel Ash and ''A Skeptic's Guide To The Twelve Steps'' by Phillip Z. A clear distinction needs to be drawn between the original A.A. program fashioned in Akron which was described as a Christian Fellowship, held "old fashioned prayer meetings," stressed Bible study and prayer and the reading of religious literature, and insisted on bringing people to an acceptance of Jesus Christ as the way to a relationship with God. While meetings were held by drunks and Oxford Group members, the work was said to be that of a "clandestine lodge" of the Oxford Group because its stress was on helping drunks to recovery, abstinence, resistance of temptation, old fashioned revival meetings, and conversion to Christ — which seemed to derive from the ideas, principles and practices of United Christian Endeavor Society of Dr. Bob's youth. This program achieved a 75% to 93% success rate. Its adherents said they felt the answer to their problems was in the "Good Book" (as they called the Bible). There were no Steps, no basic text, only one regular meeting. The emphasis was on Bible study, prayer, seeking God's guidance, conversion, visiting hospitalized drunks, fellowship and witnessing. In a word, it was called "love and service" — the watchwords of United Christian Endeavor. After the unusual cures were realized by Bob and Bill, the Akron group authorized Wilson to write a book about the program. But Wilson returned to New York and wrote an entirely different program based primarily on what he had learned from the Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York, and a leader of the Oxford Group people in America. To Shoemaker's ideas, which are found almost verbatim in the 12 Steps, Bill added in his Big Book (the new basic text) ideas about alcoholism from Dr. William D. Silkworth, ideas about the necessity for a conversion from Dr. Carl G. Jung, ideas about a so-called "higher power" primarily from Professor William James and New Thought writers, thoughts from Anne Smith's Spiritual Journal, practical techniques from Richard Peabody set forth in his Common Sense of Drinking book, and a smattering of words and phrases with New Thought and New Age origin such as "Universal Mind," "Czar of the Universe," "fourth dimension of existence," and higher power. Then Wilson declared there had been a program of recovery which consisted of 12 Steps the pioneers had taken to find God. Bill asked Shoemaker to write the Steps, but Shoemaker declined. The Steps can be recognized in the Oxford Group teachings Wilson received from Rowland Hazard and Ebby Thacher in late 1934 and early 1935, but neither the Oxford Group nor early A.A. in New York or Akron had any "steps" at all. A.A. was, at its origins, most assuredly a "religion" and a "religious organization." The concept of "spiritual, not religious," seems to have derived from the church's desire to keep religion separate from A.A. even though the precepts and practices of A.A. were Biblical in roots and nature. Thus early A.A. meetings in New York were those of "A First Century Christian Fellowship" then also known as the "Oxford Group." The "spirituality" idea was originally defined by Wilson as reliance on the Creator — truly a religious idea. But as time went on, New Thought and New Age substitute words seemed to drive A.A. talk and writing more toward unbelief and substitutionary, secular, universalism than to a relationship with God — the avowed Big Book purpose of the Steps. 12 Step Programs
Removed from article: :The data listed above are just a small sample of a very large body of empirical evidence indicating that AA is no better than doing nothing at all. The few studies that have shown any benefit to AA attendance are notable for their methodological flaws and are virtually worthless (Le et al. p. 603). :The chief reason for AA’s dismal record is obvious to the Atheist. Any “treatment” predicated on belief in an imaginary despot-in-the-sky must fail. We might as well turn our lives over to the Energizer Bunny. [http://www.americanatheist.org/spr97/T2/piety.html Piety Gets You Sobriety?] "Engergizer Bunny" part is a bit funny but not encyclopedic. The rant about AA ''might'' be OK to have in the AA article ''if'' it were qualified and NPOVed. There is no reason to have either statement in this article. --user:maveric149 :) :One organization which is often confused with an "Anonymous" 12-step program, due to the intentional similarity of its name -- but is not one -- is Narconon?. Narconon isn't [Narcotics Anonymous]?; it is rather a branch (or "mission") of the Church of Scientology. Can someone explain how Narconon differs from 12-steps? It doesn't seem like being a branch of the CoS would make much of a difference. -- Ark Simple, Ark -- Narconon doesn't use the 12 Steps; it uses Scientology methods. Some of these include: the Purification Rundown, a course of vitamin overdoses and various other "treatments" believed to purify the body of toxins; the Communications Course TRs, a series of drills such as sitting impassively, avoiding laughter while a coach reads nonsense sentences, answering simple questions, and so forth; and the Hubbard Study Tech. None of these techniques are used by non-Scientology "self-help groups", including 12-step groups. --user:Fubar Obfusco BTW, I've overhauled the Narconon page with some more description of what they're about. The previous version was the "party line" from the organization itself, rather than an encyclopedist's description. It still needs work, if you're interested in the research -- I left several links on both sides. --user:Fubar Obfusco :Naive little ol' me. I had actually expected that here in Wikipedia, when someone posted a page on something, they would actually know what they were talking about. So much for expectations.
:A wise person once noted that everyone has the right to be wrong, and this page proves it. The Author has gone out of the way to post almost as much common misconception as opinion and posting it as fact.
:I'm not going to waste time and space posting my opinion, based on my own personal experience gleened over several long, struggling years in a variety of venues. Suffice it to say that This Editor has done his homework.
:NOTE: Al-Anon is a program started by Lois Wilson, wife of AA Co-Founder Bill Wilson, for the purpose of giving help and support to family members of alcoholics. It is a program based on the 12-Steps of AA. Their focus is somewhat centered in chapters 8) To Wives, and 9)The Family Afterwards of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. NarAnon is to Narcotics Anonymous as Al-Anon is to Alcoholics Anonymous. -- User:David Johnson
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Added reference to "Big Book" and a paragraph on different ways of interpreting program literature. morimom
== Capitalization of Bible ==
It's not common for Bible to be uncapitalized. Should this be changed?
User:Jdavidb 17:45, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
"He established the tradition within the "Anonymous" 12-step programs of using only his first name." Who exactly was this, Bill or Bob? --User:Fermatprime 14:16, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Twelve-step_program:
Twelve-Step_program
Twelve-step_program
Twelve-step_program
Twelve-step_programme
Twelve-Step program
#REDIRECT Twelve-step program
Twelve-step program
A twelve-step program is a self-help group whose members attempt recovery from various addiction and compulsion through the use of a plan referred to as the "twelve steps". ==Characteristics== All twelve-step programs follow some version of the twelve steps. They meet regularly to discuss their problems and share their victories. One of the most widely-recognized characteristics of twelve-step groups is the requirement that members admit that they "have a problem". In this spirit, many members open their address to the group along the lines of, "Hi, I'm David, and I'm an alcoholic" — a catchphrase now widely identified with support groups. Visitors to group meetings share their experiences, challenge successes and failures, and provide peer support for each other. Many people who have joined these groups report they found success that previously eluded them, while others — including some ex-members — criticize their efficacy or universal applicability. ==The twelve steps== The twelve steps for Alcoholics Anonymous are as follows. # We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. # Came to Belief that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. # Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God ''as we understood Him''. # Made a searching and fearless morality inventory of ourselves. # Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. # Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of Moral character . # Humility asked Him to remove our shortcomings. # Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. # Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. # Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. # Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our Consciousness contact with God, ''as we understood Him'', praying only for knowledge of His Will (philosophy) for us and the Power (sociology) to carry that out. # Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs. ([http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/default/en_about_aa_sub.cfm?subpageid=76&pageid=12 Source: Alcoholics Anonymous]) Other twelve-step groups have modified these steps slightly to refer to problems other than alcoholism. ==History== The first such program was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which was begun in 1935 by William Griffith Wilson and Bob Smith (doctor) . He established the tradition within the "Anonymous" 12-step programs of using only his first name. The 12 Steps were originally written by Wilson and other early members of AA to codify the process that they felt had worked for them personally. The 12 steps were essentially a rewriting of the 6 steps of the Oxford Group with whom Bill Wilson had contact. This "codex" is the book "Alcoholics Anonymous", often referred to as the "Big Book". The twelve steps were eventually matched with twelve traditions, a set of guidelines for running individual groups and a sort of constitution for the program (eg, AA) as a whole. Many other programs since have adapted AA's original steps to their own ends. Related programs exist to help family and friends of those with addictions. These programs also follow modified versions of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. One organization which is often confused with an "Anonymous" 12-step program, due to the intentional similarity of its name — but is ''not'' one — is Narconon. Narconon is a branch of the Church of Scientology, presenting Scientology doctrine and practices as a therapy for drug abusers. Narconon does not use the 12 steps, and is not related to Narcotics Anonymous. == Relation to religion == A primary belief of members is that their success is based on giving up on self-reliance and willpower, and instead relying on God, or a "Higher Power". Critics of these programs, however, often hold that this reliance is ineffective, and offensive or inapplicable to atheists and others who do not believe in a salvific deity. Proponents of 12-step programs argue that many atheists have been helped by the program. The role of religion in 12-step groups is an argument of significance in some parts of the United States, where the criminal justice system has held out group participation to inmate addicts as a condition of parole or shortened sentences. Governments in the U.S. are disallowed under the First Amendment from granting privilege to religious belief. Thus, if 12-step groups are religious (which some people believe a facial reading of the 12 steps makes plain) then this condition is unconstitutional. Members of 12-step groups commonly attempt to finesse this conflict by making the semantic distinction that they are "spiritual, but not religious." Some critics — again, particularly atheists and humanists — also question directly the idea of giving up on self-reliance, which can be seen as a form of idealized despair. Secular alternatives to 12-step programs, such as Rational Recovery, are for this reason in many ways opposite to the 12-step process. Others, such as YES Recovery, acknowledge a debt to the 12 Steps movement but do not have a culture of belief in God. As with the Bible and other similar texts, there are many different ways of interpreting the intent behind 12-step programs. And as with the Bible, there are those who argue strongly for a relatively literal adherence to program literature (often referred to as "Big Book Thumpers"), and then there are those who take the big book admonition to "take what you like and leave the rest" very seriously and advocate a much more liberal approach, which also leaves much room for personal interpretations of 12-step literature. Two books that look at the 12-step literature from a more liberal point of view are ''The Zen of Recovery'' by Mel Ash and ''A Skeptic's Guide To The Twelve Steps'' by Phillip Z. A clear distinction needs to be drawn between the original A.A. program fashioned in Akron which was described as a Christian Fellowship, held "old fashioned prayer meetings," stressed Bible study and prayer and the reading of religious literature, and insisted on bringing people to an acceptance of Jesus Christ as the way to a relationship with God. While meetings were held by drunks and Oxford Group members, the work was said to be that of a "clandestine lodge" of the Oxford Group because its stress was on helping drunks to recovery, abstinence, resistance of temptation, old fashioned revival meetings, and conversion to Christ — which seemed to derive from the ideas, principles and practices of United Christian Endeavor Society of Dr. Bob's youth. This program achieved a 75% to 93% success rate. Its adherents said they felt the answer to their problems was in the "Good Book" (as they called the Bible). There were no Steps, no basic text, only one regular meeting. The emphasis was on Bible study, prayer, seeking God's guidance, conversion, visiting hospitalized drunks, fellowship and witnessing. In a word, it was called "love and service" — the watchwords of United Christian Endeavor. After the unusual cures were realized by Bob and Bill, the Akron group authorized Wilson to write a book about the program. But Wilson returned to New York and wrote an entirely different program based primarily on what he had learned from the Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York, and a leader of the Oxford Group people in America. To Shoemaker's ideas, which are found almost verbatim in the 12 Steps, Bill added in his Big Book (the new basic text) ideas about alcoholism from Dr. William D. Silkworth, ideas about the necessity for a conversion from Dr. Carl G. Jung, ideas about a so-called "higher power" primarily from Professor William James and New Thought writers, thoughts from Anne Smith's Spiritual Journal, practical techniques from Richard Peabody set forth in his Common Sense of Drinking book, and a smattering of words and phrases with New Thought and New Age origin such as "Universal Mind," "Czar of the Universe," "fourth dimension of existence," and higher power. Then Wilson declared there had been a program of recovery which consisted of 12 Steps the pioneers had taken to find God. Bill asked Shoemaker to write the Steps, but Shoemaker declined. The Steps can be recognized in the Oxford Group teachings Wilson received from Rowland Hazard and Ebby Thacher in late 1934 and early 1935, but neither the Oxford Group nor early A.A. in New York or Akron had any "steps" at all. A.A. was, at its origins, most assuredly a "religion" and a "religious organization." The concept of "spiritual, not religious," seems to have derived from the church's desire to keep religion separate from A.A. even though the precepts and practices of A.A. were Biblical in roots and nature. Thus early A.A. meetings in New York were those of "A First Century Christian Fellowship" then also known as the "Oxford Group." The "spirituality" idea was originally defined by Wilson as reliance on the Creator — truly a religious idea. But as time went on, New Thought and New Age substitute words seemed to drive A.A. talk and writing more toward unbelief and substitutionary, secular, universalism than to a relationship with God — the avowed Big Book purpose of the Steps. 12 Step Programs
Twelve-step program
Removed from article: :The data listed above are just a small sample of a very large body of empirical evidence indicating that AA is no better than doing nothing at all. The few studies that have shown any benefit to AA attendance are notable for their methodological flaws and are virtually worthless (Le et al. p. 603). :The chief reason for AA’s dismal record is obvious to the Atheist. Any “treatment” predicated on belief in an imaginary despot-in-the-sky must fail. We might as well turn our lives over to the Energizer Bunny. [http://www.americanatheist.org/spr97/T2/piety.html Piety Gets You Sobriety?] "Engergizer Bunny" part is a bit funny but not encyclopedic. The rant about AA ''might'' be OK to have in the AA article ''if'' it were qualified and NPOVed. There is no reason to have either statement in this article. --user:maveric149 :) :One organization which is often confused with an "Anonymous" 12-step program, due to the intentional similarity of its name -- but is not one -- is Narconon?. Narconon isn't [Narcotics Anonymous]?; it is rather a branch (or "mission") of the Church of Scientology. Can someone explain how Narconon differs from 12-steps? It doesn't seem like being a branch of the CoS would make much of a difference. -- Ark Simple, Ark -- Narconon doesn't use the 12 Steps; it uses Scientology methods. Some of these include: the Purification Rundown, a course of vitamin overdoses and various other "treatments" believed to purify the body of toxins; the Communications Course TRs, a series of drills such as sitting impassively, avoiding laughter while a coach reads nonsense sentences, answering simple questions, and so forth; and the Hubbard Study Tech. None of these techniques are used by non-Scientology "self-help groups", including 12-step groups. --user:Fubar Obfusco BTW, I've overhauled the Narconon page with some more description of what they're about. The previous version was the "party line" from the organization itself, rather than an encyclopedist's description. It still needs work, if you're interested in the research -- I left several links on both sides. --user:Fubar Obfusco :Naive little ol' me. I had actually expected that here in Wikipedia, when someone posted a page on something, they would actually know what they were talking about.
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
T
TA | TB | TC | TD | TE | TF | TG | TH | TI | TJ | TK | TL | TŁ | TM | TN | TO | TP | TR | TS | TU | TW | TX | TY | TZ |Words begining with Twelve-step_program:
Twelve-Step_program
Twelve-step_program
Twelve-step_program
Twelve-step_programme
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