Abstract

CAMPOS, Edemilson Antunes de. Alcoholism: illness and meaning in Alcoholics Anonymous. Etnográfica [online]. 2009, vol.13, n.1, pp.103-124. ISSN 0873-6561.

The purpose of this article is to understand the therapeutic model of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to approach the so-called alcoholism illness by means of an analysis of cultural codes that operate in the health-illness process. Starting from an ethnographic research made among AA groups located in the outskirts of the city of São Paulo - Brazil -, an analysis is made on the meanings attributed to the experience of alcoholism, with stress on the language that allows alcoholics to find a meaning for their afflictions. The AA model operates the symbolic construction of the alcoholic illness. This way, alcoholics find a meaning for the evil that afflicts them and recover family and professional relationships lost in the times of active alcoholism.

Keywords : Alcoholics Anonymous; alcoholism; culture; self-help groups; health-illness process.

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