Anonymous Narcotics ( NA ) describes itself as "a nonprofit alliance or a society of men and women whose drugs are a big problem". Anonymous Narcotics uses a traditional 12-step model that has been expanded and developed for people with substance abuse issues and is the second largest 12-step organization.
In May 2016 there were over 67,000 NA meetings in 139 countries.
Video Narcotics Anonymous
Program Narkotika Anonim
Keanggotaan dan organisasi
The third tradition of NA states that the only requirement for membership is "the desire to stop using." NA said the meeting is where members can "meet regularly to help keep each other clean". All the facts and quotations presented in the "Narcotics Anonymous Program" section, unless sourced otherwise, are from Narcotics Anonymous . Membership on NA is free, and there are no dues or fees.
The basis of the Anonymous Narcotics program is the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. Narcotics Anonymous uses a few variations of wording in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, when compared to the other Twelve.
According to the Basic Text, Anonymous Narcotics "has no opinion on external affairs", including political, scientific or medical issues, and does not support outside organizations or institutions. The Guild does not promote itself, but attracts new members through public information and outreach. Individuals can also be forced to attend by a court or rehabilitation program. NA groups and territories supply outside organizations with factual information about the NA program, and individual members can bring NA messages to hospitals and institutions, such as care centers and prisons.
Nature of Addiction
According to the philosophy of the NA program, most addicts do not realize they have a problem with drugs until they have nothing left. Even if other people indicate they may have drug problems, they believe otherwise. But once an addict in himself tries to stop and realizes that they can not do it, they finally see that drugs have controlled them. Live addicts to use and use for life. NA helps show them different ways of life and help them fight their disease. NA describes addiction as a progressive disease without known drugs, which affects every area of ââthe addict's life: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. NA suggests that addictive diseases can be caught, and recovery is possible through the NA twelve-step program. The steps never mention drugs or drug use, but they only refer to addiction, to show that the addict has a disease whose use of the drug is a symptom. In the NA program all drugs are considered equal, and alcohol is also a drug. Other symptoms include obsessions, coercion, rejection, and selfishness.
Maps Narcotics Anonymous
Meeting
Regular meetings, organized by NA groups, are the basic units of the NA alliance. Meetings are held at various venues such as church meeting rooms, libraries, hospitals, community centers, parks, or other places that can accommodate meetings.
Members who attend regular meetings regularly to form a reliable network of recovery and routines understand this as their "Home Group". Group members can participate in group business, and play an important role in determining how group meetings should be conducted.
Format
There are two basic meeting types, "open" and "closed". Anyone can attend open meetings, while closed meetings are limited to addicts and people who think they may have drug problems.
The format of meetings varies, but often includes the time spent reading aloud the NA literature on issues involved in cleaning up living lives written by and for NA members. Many meetings are conducted by the chairman who selects the speaker. Other meetings include an "open sharing" component, in which anyone present has an opportunity to share. There is usually no direct feedback during "sharing"; so only one person has ever spoken at a certain time during this portion of the meeting. This type of meeting is sometimes described as: speaker/discussion meeting. Some groups choose to host one speaker (such a meeting is usually denoted as "speaker meeting") to share for most of the meeting time.
Other meeting formats include: round robin (sharing around in circles), tag meetings (each speaker picks up the next person to share). Some meetings focus on reading, writing and/or sharing about one of the Twelve Steps or other parts of the NA literature. Some meetings are "common needs" meetings (also known as special interests), supporting a particular group of people based on gender, sexual identity, age, language, or other characteristics. These meetings are not exclusive, because every addict is accepted at each NA meeting. The NA community will often try to hold separate meetings at the same time for members who do not identify meetings with shared needs.
During the meeting, some groups are sharing time for NA-related announcements, and many meetings take the time to recognize "birthdays" or "birthdays" of net time. Individuals are sometimes given the opportunity to announce their clean time to the group. In some meetings, and for certain warnings, the key tags, and medals - which show the various amounts of net time - are distributed to those who have achieved that milestone. In some areas, addicts who celebrate a "clean birthday" will be able to have members of the reading group read reading for meetings and he will have a speaker carrying NA messages. Then the addict celebrates will have his or her sponsors or friends or family members, giving them a medal in which when a friend will share some of the addict's achievements celebrating over the past year, or from during his entire recovery journey. Then the celebrating junkie can share his experience, his strength, and his expectations with the group about how they do it.
NA states in the fifth tradition that "each group has one main goal - to bring that message to the still-suffering addict." Therefore, newcomers are considered the most important person in any meeting. The message of NA is hope: that there is another way to live. One promise of NA is that "addicts, addicts, can stop using drugs, lose the will to use, and find new ways to live" (Basic Text). According to the Basic Text of Anonymous Narcotics, "The Twelve Steps" is the source of this hope and freedom when working for the best of one's abilities.
Services
The NA literature shows that service work is an essential part of the recovery program. Service is "doing the right thing for the right reasons," and is the best example of "good faith", which is the basis for freedom only from active addiction by the NA program. Service work usually leads meetings but may be as simple as cleaning after a meeting, getting rid of a chair, or answering the phone. In addition, there are basic service positions formalized at the group level to help the group perform its functions: examples include treasurers, secretaries, and Group Service Representatives (GSRs) representing groups in larger service structures.
The structure of the NA services operates in an area, region and world level. This level of service exists to serve the group and be directly accountable to the groups; they do not rule. The service world is accountable to the territory of its members, who in turn are responsible for the member's area. Local service committees directly support groups of members and often hold special events, such as dances and picnics. The regional service committee also provides a special subcommittee to serve the needs of members who may be locked up in prisons and institutions, and will also provide a public interface for fellowship.
Literature
- The Basic Text called Narcotics Anonymous is divided into two books. The first book discusses the fundamentals of the NA program and twelve steps and traditions. The second book consists of many personal stories.
- It works: How and Why offers a detailed discussion of twelve steps and traditions. and is often called "green and gold" after its cover.
- The Step Working Guides are workbooks with questions at each step and are often called "Flat Books".
- Just For Today is a daily meditation book with excerpts from the Basic Text and other NA-approved literatures including "Information Pamphlets".
- Sponsors is an in-depth discussion of the sponsorship role in NA, including member's personal experience.
- Miracles Happen describes the early years of the NA organization. This book contains many early literary photos and meeting places.
- Living Clean: The Journey Continues is approved by the World Service Conference in May 2012. It contains members' experience to stay clean and in recovery as they live challenges in life such as sickness, death. , parents, spiritual path, and work.
- Guiding Principles; The Spirit of Our Tradition was approved by the World Service Conference in May 2016. This book explores the principles found in 12 NA Traditions, and is a source for NA members to learn what the essence of the Tradition. , as well as understanding their applications for NA groups, members, and service committees.
NA has also produced dozens of "Information Pamphlets," or "IPs," with a wide range covering various topics related to recovery, including a questionnaire for those who think they may have drug addiction and information for those who try to survive. clean while still inside the hospital or institution.
Spirituality
NA calls itself a spiritual recovery program from addiction diseases. The NA program places the importance of developing a working relationship with a "higher power". The literature shows that members formulate their own personal understanding of the higher forces. The only recommended guideline is that this power is "loving, caring, and bigger than yourself and stronger than the disease of addiction".
Members are given absolute freedom to understand the higher powers that work for them. Individuals from various spiritual and religious backgrounds, as well as many atheists and agnostics, have developed relationships with their own higher powers. NA also often uses the word "God" and some members who are having difficulty with the term "higher power" or read it as an acronym for "Good Direction Direction".
Twelve steps of the NA program are based on spiritual principles, three of which are honesty, open-mindedness, and will, manifested in the first three steps. All three are almost incomplete. NA Basic Text says, in Chapter Four, it refers to the twelve steps, "These are principles that enable our recovery." According to NA members, these principles, when followed by one's best abilities, enable a new way of life.
NA meetings are usually close to the circle of the participants, group hugs and some sort of prayer. The prayers used to close the meeting today include the "we" version of "Serenity Prayer" ("God, Give us the peace to accept the things we can not change, the courage to change the things we can do, and the wisdom to know the difference. "); The Third Step of Prayer ("Go to my will and my life, guide me in my restoration, show me how to live.") or "Thanksgiving Prayer" ("No addict seeking recovery to die... Thank goodness I talk when I care and when I share with others by way of NA. "
Sponsors
An addict who helps others is an important part of the NA program. It is therefore strongly recommended that NA members seek sponsorship. Sponsors are NA members who help other members of the fellowship by sharing their experiences, strengths, and expectations in recovery and serve as a guide through the Twelve Steps. Thus, NA members often choose sponsors with experience in applying the Twelve Steps of NA.
To feel most comfortable, many NA members have sponsors for same-sex even though members are free to choose other members as sponsors. It is also suggested that one should seek sponsors who not only do 12 Narcotics Anonymous steps, but the person also has a sponsor who has worked on 12 Narcotics Anonymous traditions.
Anonymity
"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, which once remind us to put the principle before the person." (12th Tradition, Basic Text)
Many NA members identify themselves in meetings with only their first names. The spirit of anonymity is about placing "principles before the personality" and recognizing that no individual addict is superior to the others, and that individual addicts do not recover without their spiritual alliances or principles.
The Eleventh Tradition declares that NA members "must always keep private secrecy at the press, radio and film levels".
History
NA emerged from the Anonymous Alcoholics Program in the mid-1930s, and was founded by Jimmy Kinnon. The first meeting appeared in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the early 1950s. The NA program, officially established in 1953, began as a small US movement that has developed into the world's 12th largest drug recovery program for drug addiction.
predecessor
Alcoholics Anonymous is the first 12 step program, and through it many drug and drink problems find tranquility. The Fourth Tradition gives each AA group autonomy to include or exclude non-alcoholic addicts from "closed" meetings - where only those who express a desire to quit drink may attend. At the "open" AA meeting, non-alcoholics are accepted.
In early 1944, one of the founders of AA, Bill Wilson discussed a separate alliance for drug addicts. In 1947, NARCO (also called Addicts Anonymous) met every week at the US General Medical Service (Federal Medical Center, Lexington) care center inside the Lexington, Kentucky federal prison for 20 years. In 1948, a NARCO member started a brief alliance also called "Narcotics Anonymous" at the New York Prison System in New York City, New York. This NA version does not follow the 12 NA Traditions, which created problems for the fellowship and finally the end of the NA in the late 1970s. Jimmy K., who is believed to start the NA we know today, contacted Rae Perez as a leading member of the NA alliance. Because the fellowship is unwilling to follow 12 traditions written by the AA, the two NA alliances never unite.
Initial history of NA
In 1953, Narcotics Anonymous, founded in California by Jimmy Kinnon and others. Different from its predecessor, NA formed a group of mutually supportive groups. The founding members, most of whom are from the AA, argue and form the 12 NA Alliance Traditions. On September 14, 1953, AA authorized NA to use the 12 steps and AA tradition on condition that they stop using the AA name, causing the organization to call itself Narcotics Anonymous.
In 1954, the first NA publication was printed, called "The Little Book of Chocolate." It contains 12 steps, and an initial draft of some parts that will be included in the next literature.
At that time, NA has not been recognized by the wider community as a positive force. The early groups had difficulty finding places that allowed them to meet, and often had to meet in people's homes. The first meeting of Narcotics Anonymous was held in the church basement for the protection of members because at that time the old law banning convicted convicts from the congregation was still established and the church offered their dungeon as a sanctuary. Addicts have to sail around the meeting places and check the surveillance, to ensure the meeting will not be damaged by the police. It was years before the NA became recognized as a profitable organization, although some early press accounts were very positive.
In addition, many NA groups did not follow 12 traditions very closely (which was fairly new at the time). These groups sometimes receive money from outside entities, unite the AA with the NA, or even add religious elements to the meeting. For various reasons, the meeting began to decline in the late 1950s, and there was a period of four months in 1959 when no meetings were held anywhere. Driven into action by this, Kinnon and others dedicate themselves to restart the NA, promising to hold on to traditions more closely.
Resurgence
At the end of 1959, the meeting began to form again and grow. NA's White Paper was written in 1962, and became the heart of the NA meeting and the basis for all of NA's later literature. NA is called the "hip pocket program", because the entire literature can fit into one's hip pocket. This booklet was re-published in 1966 as the NA White Book, and included many personal stories of addicts.
The first NA phone line began in 1960, and the first "H & amp; I" group was formed in 1963 (H & I is the Hospital and Institution, Narcotics Anonymous Subcommittee that brings messages to hospitals and institutions where people do not can get to an outside meeting). That year, the "Parents Service Board" (later renamed the World Service Agency) was formed to ensure that NA remains healthy and follows tradition. In 1962, the Salvation Army started a group called "Narcotics Anonymous" which followed a different "13 Steps" program, but the program soon died. The NA program grew slowly in the 1960s. Members of the program learn what works and what does not. Relapse rates decreased over time and friction between NA groups began to decrease.
The 1970s was a period of rapid growth in NA history. In 1970, there were only 20 regular, weekly meetings, all in the United States. In two years there are 70, including meetings in Germany, Australia and Bermuda. In 1976, there were 200 regular meetings, including 83 in California alone, and in the early 1980s in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, the Republic of Ireland, Japan, New Zealand and the UK. In 1980, the first London meeting opened at Millman Street, Chelsea, with about six members and the second following a few months later. In 1981, there were 1,100 different meetings around the world. The World Service Office was officially opened in 1977. In 1971, the first NA World Conference was held, and others have followed each year.
The development of NA literature
Since the beginning of NA, the need for official NA literature has been proven. Unfortunately, the process of making and approving the official NA literature has seen some of the most debated periods of debate in the alliance. Although the Yellow Books, Little White Books and Little White Books were used in the 1960s and 1970s, many would like to have more detailed books on recovery, aligning the "Great Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous. Several meetings offer AA literature at meetings, while others consider writing their own book on recovery. One group even plans to print a large version of AA Book that is booted with each instance of the word "alcohol" replaced with "drugs". The need for an integrated text approved by the "conscience" of the brotherhood was recognized, and in October 1979 the first NA World Literature Conference was held in Wichita, Kansas.
While previous literature has been written by some addicts (especially by Jimmy Kinnon), NA Basic Text is written as a massive collaboration between hundreds of people. There are a total of seven World Literary Conferences in three years, all open to addicts who want to help. It was decided that the book would use the Little White Book as an outline, filling in and expanding the subject covered in the text.
In November 1981, a final version was distributed to all NAs for approval, and the text was approved with the 2/3 majority required for that part. Upon passing, the publication is held due to the passionate disagreement between the World Service Office and members who write books on key phrases that describe the nature of the World Service Organization and other NA service agencies. This book was printed in 1983 with the verses removed. The second edition that recovered parts quickly followed the request of the fellowship. A hasty vote that requires a Regional Service Representative to respond within 60 days (though most areas only meet every 90 days) so it is impossible to actually poll the NA Groups and re-elaborate the sentences in the edition third.
Professional editors and writers were hired in 1986 to improve the Basic Text so as to be more consistent in tone and style. The resulting 4th edition, released in 1987, is reviewed incorrectly and has many problems, including 30 missing lines and text that is inconsistent with other NA literature. The 5th edition was released in 1988, supposedly correcting the problem.
In 2004, WSC started a project to revise the Basic Text. This new edition will remove some personal stories from the 5th edition, and complete the rest of the original story with more personal stories from around the world. The first 10 chapters remain the same. In addition, the preface will remain the same, as well as the "Symbols" page. There is a new introduction but the original preface will be called "preface for first edition". There are other changes to the structure of the book, including the layout and book flow, while keeping the original message clear and unchanging. The task of selecting these stories is derived from the World Service Office, to regional meetings, to the Area Service Committee meetings and then to individual home group meetings, where each member has the opportunity to review new texts.
When the Draft Agreement came out on September 1, 2006, 7,500 copies were distributed (4,493 copies were shipped and 3,009 copies were electronic copies downloaded by members). The estimated number of inputs received was 350, of which 60 percent came from individuals, 17 percent came from the group, and 23 percent came from the committee. More than 20 percent (161) of personal stories sent from outside the United States. Submissions are accepted from the following countries (although later on more personal stories are submitted and additional statistics are unknown):
6th Edition The NA Basic Text is approved with over forty new "personal stories" from around the world. Due to the addition of so many new stories from the experience of NA members, their size is larger than all previous editions. After a rapid succession of five editions during the 1980s, this was the first new edition in twenty years.
On October 1, 2008, the 5th edition was replaced by the 6th edition of the Narcotics Anonymous World Services inventory at NA.org. A copy of Basic Text is sold, or is provided free of charge at group expense, at NA meetings, and is available in over 30 different languages. Millions have been sold worldwide, and have been useful to many addicts.
More new history
The Sixth Edition Basic Text was published in 2008, and there is also a special edition released in the same year known as the 25th Anniversary of the Sixth Edition Basic Text.
In 2003, NA World Services approved a new text titled Sponsors . This book seeks to help people explore the concept of NA sponsorship.
In recent months, there has been a movement to revise the "In Times of Illness" pamphlet.
A motion for the project to create a new book is submitted to the World Service Conference in the 2008-2010 conference cycle. The movement was undertaken with unanimous approval in 2010. over the next two years Anonymous Narcotics fellows participated in a collective effort to create this new book. The book is entitled Living Clean: The Journey Continues. At the 2012 World Service Conference, a motion to approve the final draft of this book was submitted to the conference for approval and once again the delegates unanimously voted. Living Clean: The Journey Continues was released to the public in 2012.
To membership demography
Membership in Anonymous Narcotics is voluntary; no attendance records are kept for NA purposes or for others. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to provide comprehensive information about NA membership to interested parties. However, there are some objective measures that can be shared based on data obtained from members attending one of the world's NA conventions; membership diversity, especially ethnic background, seems to represent the geographical location of the survey. The following demographic information was revealed in a survey returned by nearly half of the 13,000 participants at the 2003 NA World Convention held in San Diego, California: o Sex: 55% male, 45% female. o Age: 3% 20 years down, 12% 21-30 years, 31% 31-40 years, 40% 41-50 years, 13% over age 51 years, and 1% not answered. o Ethnicity: 51% Caucasian, 24% African-American, 14% Hispanic, and 11% others. o Employment status: 72% working full time, 9% working part time, 7% unemployed, 3% pension, 3% housewife, 5% student, and 1% not answer. o Continuous termination/recovery: The 2015 membership survey shows a range of less than one year to 54 years, with an average average of 8.32 years. Membership Survey 2015 0f 22,803 members are available on NA.org, under the public "To Tab".
Growth rate
Since no record of attendance is stored, it is impossible to estimate how much percentage of those who come to Narcotics Anonymous remain active in NA from time to time. The only definite indicator of the program's success in attracting members is the rapid growth in the number of Anonymous Narcotics meetings registered in recent decades and the rapid spread of Narcotics Anonymously outside of North America.
- In 1978, there were fewer than 200 groups registered in three countries.
- In 1983, more than a dozen countries had 2,966 meetings.
- In 1993, 60 countries had more than 13,000 groups holding more than 19,000 meetings.
- In 2002, 108 countries had 20,000 groups holding more than 30,000 meetings.
- In 2005, 116 countries had more than 21,500 groups holding more than 33,500 weekly meetings.
- In 2007, there were more than 25,065 groups holding more than 43,900 weekly meetings in 127 countries.
- In 2012, there are over 62,700 meetings worldwide in over 142 countries.
- By 2016, there are over 67,000 weekly meetings in 139 countries.
Organizational structure
Members meet in Group NA; Representatives participating in the Area Services Committee (ASC); Several Regional Service Committees established the Regional Service Committee (RSC) and Regional Delegates (RDs) established the NA World Service Committee. The foundation for this structure is the Twelve NA Traditions.
NA Group
Anonymous Narcotics basically consists of Group NA. An NA Group is a number of NA members who meet regularly; usually at the same time and place every week. Some Groups have more meetings, but are considered part of one Group. The group has one main goal, to bring a message to the still-suffering addict. Groups are largely independent of each other and NA members are encouraged to select "origin groups" to become members of the groups they attend regularly and where they will be missed if they are not there. Each Group selects a number of leaders, or "trusted employees", to serve the needs of the Group they make including: Group Secretary, Group Treasurer, Group Chair, Group Service Representative (GSR) and alternative GSR. The selection process is conducted by the Conscience Group which is a business meeting consisting of members of the Group seeking consensus-based decisions. With each group being autonomous, without affecting the NA as a whole, the trusted helper's responsibilities vary from meeting to meeting. This group's responsibility or "group policy" is made through group business meetings by inviting Higher Power to guide every individual who restores an addict's decision, also known as group conscience. An example of a certain responsibility that is believed to be, "The secretary is responsible for opening meetings, choosing someone to lead meetings, making sure coffee is made, etc. He also arranges to purchase inventory and keep group notes The treasurer keeps the financial records and pays the group bills. The GSR attends a meeting of the Area Service Committee and represents the group to ASC.GSR alternatives assist the GSR and prepare to replace the GSR when necessary. "
Area services committee
ASC consists of all NA Groups participating in a particular Area. Group Service Representatives (GSRs) and GSR alternatives from each Group in an Area meet regularly together for business meetings where issues are raised and discussed to better meet the needs of groups in the Area. Each ASC selects its own officers: chairman, deputy chairman, secretary, treasurer, and member of the regional committee (RCM). Often ASCs will have various subcommittees (such as but not limited to Hospitals and Institutions (H & amp; I), Public Information (PI), Activities, Websites, Outreach, Policies, Literature, Literature Review, Bulletins, Recovery By Mail and Convention) led by the leader of the subcommittee elected by the entire ASC. In some areas, some ASCs will be grouped into the Metropolitan Service Committees at the sub-regional level; this is typical in big cities, such as Los Angeles, which contains several ASCs.
Regional service committees
RSC consists of members of the regional committee (RCM) of all ASCs participating in a region. It's similar in organization to ASC, but is further removed from the daily activities of individual home groups. Many of the issues handled by the RSC are the same ones that will come before the World Service Conference, with RSC being the best way for local groups to help create policies that will affect the NA as a whole. In some cases, only RCMs in a region will meet to vote on issues; in other situations, all GSRs in a region will be invited to attend RSC meetings. RSC elected a delegate to attend the World Service Conference.
Zonal Forum
The Zonal Forum is a service-oriented organizational structure designed to improve communication between RSCs. They are not decision-making entities.
Some Zonal Forums actively participate in "Fellowship Development" to help NA partnerships grow in new countries and geographic areas where NA is still formed. Zonal forums help NA groups, regions or regions to work together to translate literature, notify local people about NA and create new service committees. This is achieved through annual or biennial Zonal Forum meetings together with development visits to NA groups and members in other countries. Experienced NA members hold workshops, and meetings and present materials to help the newer community.
The zonal forums also provide an important opportunity for World Services and the World Board to interact with the new and growing NA community to better understand their needs and challenges. Zonal forums are an important part of NA growth in some of the world's most populous and remote parts of the world. Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Asia and Latin America The NA community has grown significantly through the work of the Zonal Forums.
Some Zonal Forums are service oriented sharing sessions that provide the means by which the NA community in their zone can communicate, work together, and grow with each other. While not part of the NA's formal decision-making system, the Zonal Forum interacts with the World Service in many ways. Each Zonal Forum provides a biennial report on the floor of the World Service Conference and, when requested by the conference, may also answer specific questions or body addresses. To improve communication, the Zonal Forum is provided with conference participants' letters and sends every record of a National Forum meeting to the World Service. In order to serve the fellowship more effectively, the World Service and the Zonal Forums maintain a sustainable partnership to plan and implement the World Workshop system.
NA World Service Conference
The NA World Service Conference (WSC) is a biennial service meeting consisting of Regional Delegates of the World's Regional Territories and members of the NA World Council. This service conference has executive rights to make decisions for all NA Fellowship. This includes selecting members to serve on the World Council, approving all new NA Literature, service materials and making policy decisions that affect fellowship including organizational structure. This responsibility was implemented recently in the late 90s when the World Service Conference decided to restructure the NA Service structure including the removal of the Supervisory Board, the Board of Directors and several other World Service level committees (General Information, Hospitals & Institutions , Literature and Translation) replaced them with a single board chosen by the conference.
NA World Service Office
The WSC through the World Board is responsible for the NA World Service Office located in Chatsworth, the Los Angeles, California, United States neighborhood. The Office handles the production of all approved literature, provides resources for projects approved by the WSC and also provides limited services for the fellowship as a whole. The Office also manages the legal responsibilities of the association with respect to copyright, intellectual property and accounting. This office employs a number of people who perform these functions.
Financial
Narcotics Anonymous members are not required to pay any dues or fees. NA is committed to being completely independent, reducing outside contributions. Group expenditures are entirely offset by voluntary contributions from members. Groups meet costs such as conference room rentals, tea and coffee, and any literature the group gives away for free from this contribution, after which excess funds are transferred to the service structure. Groups often provide some literature items such as IP (double side sheet sheets) and keytags/chips celebrating cleaner times. The Area Service Committee is usually funded from Group contributions plus money earned from events such as dances and restoration events attended by members. In some countries, the regional committee also provides lectors for the Groups. The regions provide funds to the Regions, which can also receive donations from Groups and also raise money through conventions attended by hundreds to thousands and tens of thousands of members. Regions also occasionally run a Regional Service Office that purchases letters from the World Service Office and its branch offices for sale to the Area and Group. Because the Regional Service Office can buy in bulk and sell at list prices sometimes this surplus exceeds the operating expenses of the office. The region then provides funds to the Zonal Forum as well as the World Service Conference through the World Service Office in accordance with the decisions of the Regions.
At the Narcotics World Service level, anonymous fees are partially met by voluntary donations through the service structure and also through the sale of recovery literature. NA does not accept donations from non-members, organizations, or governments. The NA recovery literature is produced by the NA World Service Office (NAWS) located in California, USA. Usually NA groups will purchase literature using group funds from local (regional or regional) service offices, or directly from NAWs.
Some literature is provided for new members for free (such as "Information Pamphlets") while others, usually ordering long pieces, are sold for a purchase fee to the group. Literature is also purchased from the contributions of the Group and available to new members. NAWS receives 87% (2004/5) of its revenue from sales of lektor. Other expenses include group drinks, meeting venue rentals, etc. Financial information is publicly available on the NA website. The 2007 World NA Convention runs with a net financial loss of $ 596,000.
Effectiveness
The first sophisticated NA study results were conducted in the early 1990s in London, England. The first study found a linear relationship between membership length and not abstinence with reduced anxiety and increased self-esteem. Although NA samples have a higher anxiety than non-addiction control groups, this level is equivalent to those who have three or more years of membership. which is consistent with the hypothesis that NA membership reduces anxiety and substance use. The study also, contrary to the expectations of the authors, found that spiritual beliefs and beliefs of disease concepts are not a prerequisite for the presence of NA and even if these beliefs are adopted they are not found to cause external attribution to previous drug use or possible future events.
A study of the initial experience of new NA members at Victoria Australia in 1995 interviewed 91 members initially and 62 (68%) after 12 months and found that higher self-help participation as measured by the involvement of service roles, work steps and attendance attendance which was stable, in the 12 months prior to follow-up was associated with a fourfold reduction in hazardous drug and alcohol use rates, underutilization and disease benefits and higher emotional support at interviews.
One approach is to provide professional 12-step facilitation (TSF) in either individual or group settings. TSF sessions are designed to introduce the concept of patients to 12 steps and facilitate the entry of patients into a community-based 12-step program. It should be emphasized that TSF is not a NA, it is an implementation of a 12 step program element by a professional counselor.
One study, sponsored by NIDA, randomly assigned cocaine abusers to four groups, individual drug counseling plus group drug counseling (GDC), cognitive therapy plus GDC, supportive expressive therapy plus GDC, or GDC only. Individual drug counseling is based on a 12-step philosophy. The drug counseling group is designed to educate patients about the recovery phase of addiction, to encourage participation in the 12 step program, and to provide a supportive group atmosphere to start abstinence and alternative lifestyles. Nearly 500 patients participated in the study.
The results show that all four treatment conditions resulted in similar reductions in cocaine use with IDC GDC group (TSF) more effectively than the other three groups. One problem with this study is that there is a significant reduction in patients, with a much larger dropout rate than the TSF group than others.
Fiorentine 1999
Fiorentine 1999 is a 24 month longitudinal study measuring the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous and NA. Like other longitudinal studies, it shows a strong correlation between the presence of 12 steps and being clean of drugs and not drinking alcohol: People who go to 12-step meeting in research have about 75% success rate.
In more detail, at 24 months follow-up, 77.7% of people who went to one or more weekly self-reported meetings were clean; urinalysis is very close to that figure, showing about 76.4% of the regular attendees begin to clean. For non-routine attendees going to meetings, the net self-reported figures are 56% and drug tests show 57.9% net. The self-reported figures for alcohol abuse are similar: 74.8% of 12-step regular self-reporters are fully aware, but only 40% of people who do not go to 12-step confessions are conscious. Urinalysis showed 96.6% of people regularly went to meetings as conscious, in contrast to 88.9% of people who did not go to meetings once a week or more whose urine samples were alcohol-free.
The report then looks at whether a 12-step meeting has a particular effect (in other words, if there is a cause or effect of correlation) using statistical analysis to compare the level of motivation reported by the participants, the presence of 12 steps, and managed to get clean and conscious. The result of this observation is that "Weekly or more often 12-step participants are 1.59 times more likely than participants who are less than a week to maintain abstinence after controlling for differences in recovery motivation as measured by the scale."
Controversy
The NA program sought to avoid controversy through its application to 12 traditions, which stipulated that "Narcotics Anonymous has no opinion on external issues, so the name of the NA should not be drawn into public controversy." However, the Basic Text shows that there are "communication problems, disagreements, internal controversies, and problems with individuals and groups outside the Fellowship", and these kinds of controversies have disrupted the NA throughout its history.
Internal controversy
At the beginning of NA history, various groups emphasized different aspects of recovery. In particular, the make-up and the process of making the NA text is a period of debate for fellowship. Different factions support different versions of the Basic Text, and in subsequent power struggles there are many allegations made and hatred grown. The basis of the dispute is whether the official committees described as part of the NA, or as a separate entity, are essentially instruments of NA groups that have no power to make decisions; instead of being accused of collecting decisions by NA groups themselves. The dispute reached a nadir when the World Service Office of NA sued NA members in an attempt to prevent it from distributing the free version of the Basic Text. Currently there are several NA groups that use self-generated versions of Basic Text which came to be known as Baby Blue which is essentially a Third Edition, Basic Text Revision (except that it contains an approved essay on Tradition). Some Traditionalist groups use either the Second Edition or the Draft Agreement (both containing Original Traditions and almost identical to each other).
Another twelve step group approach
NA is unique with its focus on symptoms/substances that are not core issues, but addictions, as stated in Step NA 1. In NA, no matter what substance you use, and alcohol is seen as a drug. 12-step groups differ in their approach to addiction treatment and recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous "is a program for alcoholics seeking alcohol freedom" but refers to "some AA members who have abused drugs... in such a way as to pose a threat to the achievement and maintenance of calmness" and mentions that drugs can "create the same dependence ruin it like a dependence on alcohol ". However, according to AA literature, "only those who have the desire to stop drinking can attend a closed meeting." Anyone can attend an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, but non-alcoholics are present as observers. Anonymous Cocaine was originally set up to address the special needs of cocaine addicts, but "not a drug-specific copulation" and "welcome anyone with a drug or alcohol problem and offer a solution". The CA program involves abstaining from cocaine "and all other mind changing substances", thus taking the same stance as the NA associated with abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol and marijuana. Methadone Anonymous is similar to NA, but considers the use of methadone as a recovery tool and not a drug. The NA has no opinion on these groups, as these are external issues and the tradition suggests not to take a definitive stance on outside issues.
See also
- Nar-Anon, a separate organization for family members and friends of Narcotics Anonymous members
References
Further reading
External links
- na
- nahelp
- Works based on or about Narcotics Anonymous in the library (WorldCat catalog)
Source of the article : Wikipedia