Slipping and sobriety; the functions of drinking in Alcoholics Anonymous.

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Abstract
The function of slipping (a resumption of drinking) in Alcoholics Anonymous [AA] is examined in the framework of the sociology of deviance. Theoretical aspects are illustrated by observations made during 1973 and 1974 at closed meetings, open houses and the homes of AA members and by material gathered during informal conversations and taped interviews. Apparently AA, through a narrowly defined set of norms, creates pressures that encourage some members to resume drinking, thereby violating the norms of abstinence. The AA members react to fellow members who have resumed drinking with tolerance and assistance because such relapses permit abstinent members to participate vicariously in the consequences of slipping and to discuss prescriptions and proscriptions associated with the AA program in general and with slipping in particular, thereby reaffirming norms, strengthening the boundaries between norms and norm violations and promoting group solidarity. Slipping may help explain the success of AA.

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