Social Thought, Social Movements and Alcoholism: Some Implications of AA's Linkages with other Entities

Abstract

Social thought on alcoholism can be classified into various traditions, all of which have ignored the literature on social movements. In the instance of what is known as the disease model, critics claim the approach ultimately blames the alcoholic. The argument is presented that the social movement perspective suggests that the victim of what passes as the politics of social policy formation will be the organization, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is noted that some describe AA affiliations as resulting in social policy successes while others warn that professionals in the alcoholism field must rid themselves of AA's influence. The controversy surrounding the Rand Report (Armor et al., 1978) is examined in that context. The findings related to the differential treatment effectiveness of AA and professional treatment are re-examined, which indicated that the Rand study could have been interpreted as a document favorable to AA. This discussion is concerned with why AA was denied what could have been a major victory.