Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting Reflection Paper

I attended a speaker group meeting for Alcoholic Anonymous at a Lutheran church where I live. The group consisted of predominately white middle-aged males, followed by white, middle-aged females, and a few African Americans. The speaker was a white, middle-aged female and the atmosphere of the group was friendly and inviting.
Research suggest that the majority of alcoholics are white men (find citation), so I expected that meeting to consist of predominately white men. In addition, this area of town is also predominately white, middle class, so again I expected the audience to reflect the demographic of the area. There really was not any negative effect on my stereotype, other than confirming the preconceived notions I already had.
I had attended …show more content…
Self-help groups create emotional linkages and establish life lines (Gitterman & Shulman, 2005). Self-help groups provide people with the opportunity for people to replace isolation and hopelessness with interpersonal belonging and hope (Gitterman & Shulman, 2005). The social work discipline talks about the importance of mutual aid in group work. Alcoholic Anonymous’s foundation is built on mutual aid. Whether it’s a speaker meeting, discussion meeting or big book meeting, the crux of the group centers around recovering addicts helping one another. In the context of the speaker meeting, a presenter sharing their experience and life story can inspire others to persevere through their addiction. Gitterman and Shulman (2005) state that a fifth mutual aid process can be observed by the way groups members provide mutual support for one another. Speaker meetings can help an individual to feel safe revealing painful feelings or processing a traumatic event. Sometimes people feel comfortable expressing their experiences when they observed someone telling their similar experience without hesitation. It can instill hope and willpower in

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