Addiction-recovery treatments modeled on the techniques of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Twelve-Step programs are manifestations of the nineteenth-century self-help and social collectivist movements. AA and similar organizations also represent a form of secularized religion, involving both Christian and Eastern philosophical principles, that became popular in the twentieth century. The Twelve Steps are a series of behavior-modification principles that appeal to a higher power, take action through personal inventories, make amends to others, and spread the message. Beginning with alcoholism, the treatment philosophy has been applied to gambling, eating disorders, drug addictions, sexual disorders, physical health problems, and a variety of other damaging compulsive behaviors, with varying degrees of success and not without some controversy.

The industrialization and resulting prosperity of mid-nineteenth-century Victorian Britain encouraged a renewed belief in restraining moral attributes such as hard work, respectable behavior, and personal responsibility. These values were not only embraced by...