WORLD VIEWS OF ALCOHOLICS-ANONYMOUS, WOMEN-FOR-SOBRIETY, AND ADULT-CHILDREN-OF-ALCOHOLICS AL-ANON MUTUAL HELP GROUPS/

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Women For Sobriety (WFS), and Al-Anon affil iated Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACoA/Al-Anon) mutual help groups e ach have different world views/philosophies regarding how to deal with alcohol-related problems. As members learn the world view of their mu tual help organization, their perceptions are altered in multiple life domains. AA's world view emphasizes that members' self-centeredness c auses suffering and should be overcome through surrender to a spiritua l higher power. In contrast, WFS endorses the idea that individuals sh ould be self-reliant and solve their problems through willpower and ra tional analysis. ACoA/Al-Anon represents a philosophical middle ground between AA and WFS, limiting members' sense of their own worth and im portance in some respects and enhancing it in others. We discuss the b ases of the three organizations' world views in various philosophical traditions and analyze their implications for organizational functioni ng. We also evaluate Antze's (1979) hypothesis that world views serve as a ''cognitive antidote'' for mutual help group members' problems.