While the Twelve Steps guide individual recovery, the Twelve Traditions guide how AA groups function. Adopted in 1950, these traditions have kept AA unified and effective for nearly a century.
The Twelve Traditions (Summary)
- Unity: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity.
- Leadership: Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- Membership: The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking.
- Autonomy: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.
- Purpose: Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
- Non-endorsement: An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise.
- Self-support: Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Non-professional: AA should remain forever nonprofessional.
- Organization: AA should never be organized; service boards may be created to serve.
- No opinion: AA has no opinion on outside issues.
- Public relations: Based on attraction rather than promotion.
- Anonymity: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions.
These traditions ensure that AA remains free, accessible, and focused on its primary purpose. Find an AA meeting near you to experience these principles in action.
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