Society dictates acceptable behavior. For many years, society has viewed family matters as private and not open to public discussion. Therefore, society failed to recognize the harm that alcoholism brought to families and communities. As more and more catastrophic events involving alcohol began to appear in communities, society began to recognize the negative effects and severity of alcoholism in families and the impact felt by the community. In 1935, through the efforts of Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob, a surgeon from Akron, Ohio, a friendship group developed that eventually became known as Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. , Inc., 2012). Through awareness communities have begun to embrace Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon which provide families with the support needed to achieve hope rather than despair. Alcoholics Anonymous celebrates its founding date as June 10, 1935 (Branscum & Sharma, 2010). The fellowship occurred when Bill W. and Dr. Bob gained the knowledge needed to help alcoholics achieve sobriety through their own experiences with alcoholism. Bill W. achieved sobriety with the help of an Oxford group that emphasized spiritual values ​​for everyday life. However, Dr. Bob failed to achieve sobriety while working with an Oxford group in Akron, Ohio. In 1935 the two men met in Akron, Ohio. Dr. Bob achieved the ability to maintain sobriety by combining spiritual guidance with Bill's help. Both men quickly realized that many alcoholics needed ongoing support to maintain sobriety. They also realized that the best support system came from an alcoholic maintaining sobriety because they knew what an alcoholic goes through… middle of paper… here. [Booklet] Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. (n.d.) Al-Anon: Then and Now A Brief History About AA Meetings. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/print/aboutBranscum, P., Sharma, M. (2012). Is Alcoholics Anonymous effective? Journal of alcohol and drug education. 54.3 (2010):+.Academic OneFileFields, R. (Ph.D). (2010). The twelve steps. In Drugs in perspective p.30. The McGraw-Hill Companies, New, NYHistorical Data: The Birth of AA and Its Growth in the United States/Canada.(2012). Retrieved from http://www.aa.org/subpage.cfm?=288Nefer, B. (n.d.). What style are AA meetings held in? Retrieved from ehow.comWarnat, M. (2005). "One day at a time." JAAPA-Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants. 54+. Academic OneFile. Network. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.bakerzproxy.palnet.info/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&...