A common thread I have notice among people who are very critical about 12-step programs is a tendency to not want people be held accountable for their choices and actions. When someone points out that the 12-step program is successful for people who make a decision to work it, AA critics dismiss the evidence, claiming that this is victim blaming. It is not.
A victim is defined as being someone "who is harmed by another". How is an addict, going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, who decides on their own to no longer go to meetings a victim? They are not. They made a decision to stop going to AA meetings; they made a decision to drink again; they made decisions which they knew had negative consequences. They are not a victim; they are someone suffering the consequences of their own bad decisions.
AA works for people who choose to work it; it does not work for people who choose to not work it. This is a fact supported by science. Pointing out this fact is not victim blaming.
