The Psychology of Alcoholism

About the Book

William E. Swegan (“Sgt. Bill”) was the major spokesman for the psychological wing of early Alcoholics Anonymous—that group within the newborn A.A. movement of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s which stressed the psychotherapeutic side of the twelve step program instead of the spiritual side. This book is Swegan’s major work, in which he lays out the psychiatric theories which formed the foundation of that variety of A.A. thought. He also talks about his association with Mrs. Marty Mann, Yev Gardner, E. M. Jellinek at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies, Bill Dotson (A.A. No. 3) and Searcy Whaley, in addition to recording his memories of the year he spent observing Sister Ignatia at work at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.

In 1953 Sgt. Bill teamed up with famous American psychiatrist Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, to develop a method of alcoholism treatment (given further development in the mid 1960s by Dr. Joseph J. Zuska and Dick Jewell at Long Beach Naval Station) called the Lackland-Long Beach Model. It became one of the three basic types of A.A.-oriented alcoholism treatment program, along with the Minnesota Model and Sister Ignatia’s more spiritually oriented approach.

Sgt. Bill does not just talk psychiatric theories in this book. He uses his own life story to show how traumatic loss, poverty, inadequate selfesteem, envy, self-pity and rage can drive children and youths into isolationism, rebellion, self-sabotage, and ultimately the descent into uncontrollable alcoholism or drug addiction. But in his humanistic understanding of the twelve step program he also shows us how to make use of the healing power of the spirit of Love and Service to our fellow human beings to restore ourselves to new life.

About the Author

William E. Swegan (“Sgt. Bill”) was the major spokesman for the psychological wing of early Alcoholics Anonymous—that group within the newborn A.A. movement of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s which stressed the psychotherapeutic side of the twelve step program instead of the spiritual side. This book is Swegan’s major work, in which he lays out the psychiatric theories which formed the foundation of that variety of A.A. thought. He also talks about his association with Mrs. Marty Mann, Yev Gardner, E. M. Jellinek at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies, Bill Dotson (A.A. No. 3) and Searcy Whaley, in addition to recording his memories of the year he spent observing Sister Ignatia at work at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.

Glenn F. Chesnut, brought up in San Antonio, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky, he earned his doctorate at Oxford University in England in 1971. During his three decade long professional career he taught at the University of Virginia, Boston University, and Indiana University, where he retired as Professor of History in 2003. He is now Director and Senior Editor at the Hindsfoot Foundation.

He is the author of several books on A.A. history and ideas, including The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers & Non-Believers (2001), God and Spirituality: Philosophical Essays (2010), and Changed by Grace: V. C. Kitchen, the Oxford Group, and A.A. (2006). This latter volume has been listed as one of the fifty best books tracing A.A.'s history, written over the past century.

He has also edited and published several classic books in that field, including Nancy Olson, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism (2003), Richard M. Dubiel, The Road to Fellowship: The Role of the Emmanuel Movement and the Jacoby Club in the Development of Alcoholics Anonymous (2004), and Annette R. Smith, Ph.D., The Social World of Alcoholics Anonymous: How It Works (2007).