WORLD-VIEW CHANGE IN ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS AL-ANON SELF-HELP GROUPS - RECONSTRUCTION THE ALCOHOLIC FAMILY

Although 12-step self-help groups have become extremely popular in U.S . society, clinicians and researchers have devoted little attention to how these groups affect members. This project wed naturalistic and qu alitative methods to examine the processes through which committed mem bers of self-help groups for adult children of alcoholics experience a lterations in their perceptions of family of origin. Results suggest t hat world view transformation in the family of origin domain involves learning to define the family as pathological, assigning responsibilit y for this pathology to a disease forgiving oneself accepting that one was adversely affected by the family's problem, and ultimately learni ng to accept one's parents' shortcomings.