A Sociological Explanation: Taking the Fellowship as our Higher Power

—————————————————————————— A purely sociological (non­religious) explanation of how this works, as laid out in the book by California sociologist Annette R. Smith, Ph.D., T​he Social World of Alcoholics Anonymous: How It Works,​Hindsfoot Foundation Series on Treatment and Recovery (Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2007). See​ ​ttp://hindsfoot.org/kas1.html h ——————————————————————————

What follows are excerpts from the review by Nigel. S. in AA Agnostica (July 22, 2015) of Dr. Smith’s book, which can be found online at: http://aaagnostica.org/2015/07/22/the­social­world­of­alcoholics­anonymous/

I was a 58­year­old atheist, so obviously not an old man wanting to hang around in a church!…. I hated every minute of it …. So much so that I often found the meetings were so stressful that I would pick up a drink literally as soon as I was out of the door. There was a formality of being told how to get sober with some divine intervention that made me so antagonistic that I eventually gave up going. Then my drinking got very bad and I ended up in Rehab …. They pointed me in the direction of an AA group that didn’t preach in meetings, had no instructions of how to get sober (apart from don’t drink), wasn’t all old men and didn’t meet in a church basement!…. That being said, I have not been too much involved with The Big Book and all its paraphernalia of Step work. Yet, with this newfound fellowship, I have not had a drink for the last 29 months, beating my previous record by about 29 months. Understanding how this has happened to me has not been clear until I started reading Annette Smith’s book T ​he Social World of Alcoholics Anonymous – How it Works (Hindsfoot Foundation, 2007). The description on the back cover seemed initially a little daunting and academic (the book being derived from Dr. Smith’s Sociology PhD thesis on the subject). However, all became clear, with its easy to follow, logical layout that was helped in no small way by a good introduction by Linda Farris Kurtz.

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The data for the book was obtained by analyzing observations and interviews with 51 members of different AA groups. There were 28 males and 23 females, in the interview group, aged between 19 and 70, and having lengths of sobriety between 2 and 20 years. It was from these interviews that Dr. Smith mined significant patterns from the data. Quotations from members are used to demonstrate these patterns. Annette Smith has a wealth of experience with the AA organization in her role as a clinical social worker. She states, “While I am a friend and supporter of AA, I recognize that it may not be the way to recovery for all alcoholics, and certainly it is not the only way as AA itself recognizes.”

Maybe some of the people I have come across in AA should take note. The social world in the book’s title does not refer to the gathering of alcoholics before and after meetings as I first thought, but rather, a classification of a type of structure of social relations within an organization. It is of importance to the premise of this book to define the types of organizational social structures, which can be classified in six forms:

1. A formal organization such as a corporation with a bureaucratic structure and strict hierarchy of official roles; 2. A territorial community such as a town where membership is based on proximity; 3. An interest group such as an environmental advocacy group with members sharing a common interest; 4. A voluntary group such as a parent/teacher association with formal hierarchical membership roles; 5. An informal group, such as a book club, with a lack of formal structure and a shared interest as a basis for involvement; and last, 6. A social world such as the world of tennis, with a broad and loosely structured, interconnected environment, a potentially large population and a common interest as its basis of involvement.

A social world has a membership that is voluntary and fluid, with people moving in and out at ease. There is an absence of a formal hierarchy and the influence of leadership is weak. Social roles are highly informal but the group has specifics that are passed onto its members. AA has previously been considered to be a “voluntary group” but there is a hierarchy implied in this grouping that does not match with AA’s social organization. AA’s formal organization is loosely structured without a hierarchy of authority and with democratically elected officers. It also contains loosely connected infrastructures such as recovery houses and Alano clubs set up as mutual response support for its members and families. It is the informal social environment as well as the more formal meeting environment that makes social integration into the social world of AA a key to its success. The book shows the process by which this integration occurs as well as variations in the pathways to that integration and in the experiences of conversion. Membership levels of increasing involvement in the social world are classified as strangers, tourists, regulars and insiders and each group has different experiences and commitment to the world. Members may move through these levels, or not, depending on their interaction with the group. The introduction of the concept of group dependency and the need for members to belong to the collective is an important one. In the Big Book definition of what is AA, the concepts of fellowship, the sharing of experience, strength and hope to solve the common problem, the primary purpose of staying sober as an individual and helping others do the same, are key. A sense of community and mutual support are on offer. The conversion process is studied in great detail in the book and the concept of religious conversion motifs is examined. The stages of conversion are based on the following milestones.

1. Entering the social world of AA (not necessarily a voluntary process); 2. Establishing the belief that alcoholism is a disease (accepting that alcoholics are sick rather than bad); 3. Taking the role of the member in the group (going to meetings, not drinking and getting sponsorship); 4. Reaching the moment of truth (redefining oneself as an alcoholic).

Finally, the book categorizes the different types of members in the world of AA and also explains how it works better for some types of people than others.

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From the extensive interviews with the survey participants, Dr. Smith concludes that there seems to be two broad types of successful AA members predominant in the AA Social World. These types are referred to as Sociables and Individualists and can be described according to:

1. A high or low degree of self­concepts and behaviors associated with affiliative need or group dependency; 2. Individual versus group focus of AA participation; and, 3. Cognitive versus affective content of their conversion experience.

Those who described themselves as being “people oriented” showed a high level of group dependency and affiliative need, whereas those who described themselves as “loners” showed low levels of both group dependency and affiliative need. The Sociables responded positively to the attention and affection of the others in the group, tended to be outgoing and friendly in meetings, and seemed to become Regulars and Insiders quickly. Individualists, not surprisingly, remained Strangers or Tourists longer, taking time to get used to fitting into the group. They tend to be quieter in meetings, listeners and not talkers. They also don’t get involved with either the Steps or sponsorship but are often willing to get involved in the peripheral tasks as setting up and clearing up, before and after meetings. These different types are well demonstrated by a comprehensive array of actual quotes from the participants. (I could identify as having come across many of the examples, in my short involvement with AA).

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In conclusion, the concept of AA as an extended family is paramount to the success of its social world and the inclusivity of its members. The transformation of self­identity and the acceptance of one’s alcoholic self, lead to the sense of coherence that is crucial to this success, which is not provided by the voluntary world structure.

For myself, I found that the experiences of a deep sense of “not fitting in”, a social awkwardness and an intense inner loneliness could be relieved by alcohol. On confronting my issue of alcohol being a problem (as in Step 1) and in finding the “right” AA group, came the realization that other people had the same experiences as I had. More importantly, there was redemption from the cycle of drinking, guilt and shame, by honesty and sharing mutual experiences in the group environment. This led me to have an unaccustomed sense of belonging in the “extended family” of like­minded individuals in the group. A big thank you to Annette Smith for writing an excellent book that explains the process well and is highly self­identifiable in its content. There ARE reasons that the fellowship in AA works to keep people like me sober. Interestingly, the book also shows why I have issues with certain AA groups that I have experienced:

1. Those of which have hijacked the democracy of informal structure with rigid formality (always the same group chair, anybody?); 2. Those who insist that there is only one way to get sober and that is doing it MY way (with God’s help of course); and, 3. Those who deliberately, or not, promote a lack of inclusivity in the group (I call this the clique factor).

Maybe Groucho Marx was right when he so succinctly remarked that he would not be a member of any club that would have him as a member. Maybe though, he just had to find the right club. I did.