It is time we made a thorough investigation of Alcoholics Anonymous in the interest of our public health. A.A. is identified in the public mind as a God-fearing fellowship of 350,000 "arrested alcoholics" who keep one another sober and rescue others from the horrors of alcoholism. Unfortunately, A.A. has become a dogmatic cult...

Active involvement in groups significantly improves the chances of remaining clean and sober, regardless of the group (SOS, SMART, WFS, 12-step) in which one participates. Respondents whose individual beliefs better matched those of their primary support groups showed greater levels of group participation, resulting in better outcomes as measured by increased number of days clean and sober.

I realise that AA provided a place of safety for many people who, if they had carried on in the same way, would have drunk themselves into prison, a psychiatric hospital, or even a premature grave, although there will be others like me who faced the same fate, as a result of finding the AA doctrine completely unacceptable.

The A.A. failure rate ranges from 95% to 100%. Sometimes, the A.A. success rate is actually less than zero, which means that A.A. indoctrination is positively harmful to people, and prevents recovery.

When Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are examined in controlled studies, scientists find no proof that they are superior to any other intervention in reducing alcohol dependence or alcohol-related problems.

Multiple article summaries and links from Google Answers.

Currently, many millions of Americans are in support or self-help groups dealing with over 350 different kinds of problems.

Self-help methods can help you become your best possible self as well as deal with serious problems or just change the things you'd like to see happen.

In addition to specific problems related to recovery or the lives of the group members, problems are also commonly encountered in the group process.

A combination of professional treatment and participation in a self-help group often provides the most effective recovery program for addiction.