"Take Back Your Life: Recovering From Cults and Abusive Relationships" by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias, Bay Tree Publishing, 2006

Extracts from pages 91 & 194:

“There are cults, for example, that focus their recruitment activities in drug-rehabilitation programs, Alcoholics Anonymous, and other twelve-step programs, as that milieu tends to be a ripe hunting ground for potential members.”

“In cases where alcohol or substance abuse was or is a problem, attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous may help. However, we caution you to proceed into the 12-step world with your eyes open and your antennae up. Despite its successes, this is an area rife with abuses and incompetencies. Hustlers use 12-step programs as a hunting ground for income and glory. Some counselors and group leaders are not credentialed. Some programs are fronts for cults. Even a well-meaning program may inadvertently promote long-term victimization. Although these groups are set up to reduce codependency, many participants become completely dependent on their 12-step meetings and friends.”

This book will be very helpful to A.A. members who have found themselves to be victims of  cult group abuse. The book will also be very helpful to A.A. members who think they may have been recruited into a 12-step cult group.

- Suggested reading in the minority report.  For an A.A. member's sharing their experience of recovery from a 12-step cult group in the USA, see AA Minority Report pages 70-71.