Running head:12-STEP MEETINGS 1
A Review of Three 12-Step Meetings
Julia Hottel
North Carolina Central University
A REVIEW OF THREE 12-STEP MEETINGS 2
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe my positive and negative feelings, as well as my
emotional reaction towards three attended self-help group meetings. I attended two Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings, and well as one Narcotics Anonymous meeting over the course of several
weeks. The AA meetings were held at the Triangle Alano Club in Cary, North Carolina, and at
Evolve in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Narcotics meeting was based a church located in
Durham, North Carolina. After each meeting, I spoke directly with one member from each
group. The discussions are summarized throughout the paper, as well as my overall experiences
as an observer. According to Dennis M. Donovan, Ingalsbe, M. H., Benbow, J., & Daley, D. C
(2013), 12-Step meetings have been successful helping those who are struggling with addiction.
The meetings are often at no cost, and are available daily, many hours of the day, and in several
locations (pg. 1).
A REVIEW OF THREE 12-STEP MEETINGS 3
A Review of Three 12-Step Meetings
My Experience at The Triangle Alano Club
I walked into almost an empty room, with about fifty chairs side-by-side that surrounded
the entire room. I did not know what to expect, it seemed like an older building, and at first
glance, and I thought I walked into a strange place that I may not get much out of. To my
surprise, my experience was actually the opposite. I got the most out of my visit from the
Triangle Alano Club, compared to the other meetings I attended. The room quickly filled up with
all of five minutes till eight. Almost every chair was filled with people of all ages, and I did
notice that probably a little over half of the population were male. I noticed some people walking
in wore business attire, and there were others who looked like they walked in straight off the
street. Scott A. Wituk, Shepherd, M. D., Warren, M., & Meissen, G. (2002) discusses that 10
