Customer Reviews

Alcoholics Anonymous Cult Or Cure

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This book completely changed my life. Before I thought AA and other 12 step groups were above criticism. That they were perfect programs. Charles Bufe has showed that nothing is perfect. By having the courage to show the true secret history of AA, he has provided an invaluable asset to society. Criticizing the big book and the 12 steps is like taking on the Bible. However, the author does so with style and grace. He does not hesitate to point out the good aspects of AA, but also shows the dark side of the program. This book definitely has made me see 12 step groups differently. I now have a healthier perspective of the whole movement.

Those who would dismiss this book as simply a diatribe against AA either have not read it thoroughly, or are so entrenched in 12-step dogma as to be impervious to evidence. This book is an analysis, not an indictment, of the tenets of AA and the myriad 12-step groups which have followed it's precepts.

Should virtually anything, watching "teletubbies," for instance, free a single person from the misery which is caused by pathologically heavy drinking, I would not hesitate to recommend it as a possibility to a suffering soul. The facts , however, as Mr. Bufe illustrates so well in this book, show that participation in this program not only is unlikely to result in abstinence, but may well discourage those who are made uncomfortable or who are offended by the unmistakably religious foundation of this paradigm from seeking alternative means of treatment. (For those who would take exception to this assertion, I would direct them to the first paragraph of the fifth chapter of the Big Book, ubiquitous at the beginning of the majority of AA meetings, where the unequivocal statement is made that those who do or will not recover as a result of attendance are "constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves." If you do not, for any reason, agree with AA, you are engaging in self-deception.)

The critical chapter of this book (and the source of the heading of this review) is the one in which Mr. Bufe examines the effect which the various 12-step programs have had on our society in it's influence over our courts, and in the dilution of the popular concept of addiction.

For those interested in the subject, I would highly recommend "The Diseasing of America," by Stanton Peele,and "Heavy Drinking: the Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease," by Herbert Fingarette,both, of course, available at Amazon.com.

In "Alcoholics Anonymous, Cult or Cure," Bufe gives us an intelligible analysis of the largest recovery group in the United States and perhaps the world.

He gives the reader an in depth history of the foundations of Alcholics Anonymous - which are clearly religious in nature. He also does an excellent job of analysing the 12 step process and the 12 traditions of AA. His bibliography of sources is commendable and lend credibility to his monograph.

I would highly recommend this book to those medical professionals who are considering sending patients to AA for "voluntary" treatment. The courts should also take a look at this book - AA simply doesn't work for those who do not "want it." Court cases, 99% of them, have no desire to change their drinking patterns and AA, as a result, is a complete waste of time for these individuals.

This book is not so much of an overt attack on AA, as is Jack Trimpey's Rational Recovery, but nevertheless it does expose the dark underbelly of AA's "diseasing of America" concept proferred by Dr. Stanton Peele.

If you are in doubt about AA - this is a good book for you. However, if the Alcoholics Anonymous program is working for you - then you should avoid this text.

This was a facinating look at AA. I first entered AA in 1988 thinking it was the only game in town. I was never satisfied with AA. I am an atheist and despite AAs claims, you need religion to use it. AA is not just 'spiritual' (whatever that means without religion), it is religious (not a religion, there is adifference which some reveiws miss). Beyond that, AAs religiousness requires a predeterministic outlook. This book helped me with insight into why I was unsatisfied, ways AA actually harmed me, and alternatives. That last point is key: THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO AA! This book will not tell you how to stop drinking. It will not tell you to avoid AA. AA is the way to go for some. It will point out what AA really is and that it is not the only way. One final point, most of the negative 'reviews' on this page seem to have been written by people that have not really read the book.

Bufe has written an objective analysis of the myths and realities of Alcoholics Anonymous. He sets out to answer the question "Is AA a cult?" Although the conclusion is not an unambivalent "yes", this book shines a harsh light on the efficacy of AA and the twelve step treatment industry. Throughout the book, Bufe thoroughly documents his sources - the most interesting of which show that AA's success rate is 7% at best and that "the recovery rate in AA is no higher than the rate of spontaneous remission."

This book presents serious implications for the individual considering treatment for substance abuse and for policy makers in Insurance and Health Care Industries. Bufe details how the widespread acceptance of AA as the only cure for alcohol abuse has historically been defended by squelching any and all dissenting evidence. He points out that religion has been accepted as the cure for what many people consider to be a disease. The religious nature of AA also presents some serious implications for the legal system in this country. Bufe briefly summarizes some of the recent legal decisions prohibiting coerced AA attendance based upon First Amendment Rights.

The authors' overall opinion of AA is not positive. For this reason, he includes descriptions and contacts for other approaches to recovery from alcohol abuse. I would highly recommend this book to the anyone who thinks they may have a problem with alcohol - read it before your first meeting. I would also recommend it to anyone who has found limited success in AA - it will help you get off the merry-go-round. I believe it should be required reading for any professional whose responsibilities include dealing with substance abusers.

I really wanted to read an unbiased investigation into AA and the twelve-step industry. I was hoping for a history lesson, some information about addiction, and an overview of where the program or whatever is heading. I think there are seriously important issues involved -for us all, not just addicts- that need to be examined. I think it needs someone to write a critical appraisal of it, especially in the light of the courts using AA as a re-education tool for drunk drivers (like that's gonna work).

However, this is not the book I was hoping for... The author seems to have an enormous problem with AA and the twelve steps. He displays a sort of contempt throughout the book which is genuinely disturbing. His characterization of a typical AA meeting starts with an attack on the quality of the coffee (!) and continues on from there. He absolutely HATES AA! He shows himself willing to use anything, however trifling, to attack the program and the fellowship. I'm a member of AA, sober just over a year, not religious, not even particularly spiritual and to be honest I have a few problems with meetings and so on, but the author of this book for some reason seems to have a virulent hatred of AA, which he never explains.

To say that his attitude somewhat impairs his ability to do a reasoned examination is a severe understatement. This book should be re-classified as anti-AA literature.

I'm not an apologist for the fellowship, there are a lot of things wrong with it, but I tried EVERYTHING to stop. Up to and including one-on-one therapy by a psychotherapist from a big university, and nothing diverted me from the self-destructive path I was on. Nothing, that is, until I walked (drunk) into my first AA meeting. I may not stay okay forever but I'd much rather have years like my last sober one, rather than years like the ones when I was drinking; even though I have to sit in a few smoky rooms and listen to the odd drunkelogue. Being an active alcoholic is like poison in the soul. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, I wouldn't wish on anyone...

I like this book, it is easy to read & very informative!
After spending a year in Alanon and getting abused and ignored by my so called friends, largely because I rejected the 12 steps & dared to think for myself, this book is helping me to understand why this happened.
I am so grateful to Charles Bufe, Jack Trimpey, Stanton Peele and Ken Ragge for having the courage to tell the truth.

I loved this book, which takes an unbiased look at the actual AA, rather than another addition to the reams of glowing testimonials we who study the recovery movement are often subjected to.

Bufe points out AAs drawbacks as well as its plusses. His explication of the 12 traditions and comparison of this AA government (or lack thereof) with anarchist stucture is definitely interesting. Merry Michael

I spent nine long years of my life in this group, long enough not to wonder whether or not it's a cult...I KNOW it is. They even used to say, at meetings, "sure, I know I'm brainwashed, but my brain needed washed." (I'm in Western PA, where people really do say "needed washed". And Higher Power is Haaaaarrrr Parrrr.)

Bufe has done his homework, as the pages of actual text only slightly outnumber the pages of footnotes. The writing is concise, and at times quite entertaining.

Perhaps the most interesting information revealed in the book: Based on AA's own numbers, the organization's success rate (that is, people who get sober and stay sober) is between 2.9% and 7%, depending on how charitably one chooses to interpret the numbers.

If there is a drawback to this book, it is Bufe's consistent injection of his displeasure with all religious thought or activity...at least that's how it came across to me. He could have presented his case without attacking all religion, and thus might have avoided provoking visceral negative reactions among many potential readers who might otherwise benefit from his work.