As health professionals respond to the greatly increased demands for more, and more effective, recovery resources for alcoholic persons, it is desirable that renewed consideration be given to a greater and more effective utilization of Alcoholics Anonymous. As an independent and nonprofessional network of groups, widely available, A. A. has been operating alongside and in varying degrees of relationship to the professional care-giving network. But for professionals or professionally-directed alcoholism programs to explore the potential for a more productive relationship with A. A., they need a much more accurate and in-depth perception of A. A. than most of them have had the opportunity to acquire. They need to know what A. A. is really like today -- its structures and functions, its processes and dynamics. Making an essentially anthropological approach, the study's major focus is upon local group phenomena and the varieties of personal A. A. experience as revealed in the recovery histories of individual A. A. members. Order is to be brought out of the infinitely varied phenomena by the delineation not only of types of groups, meetings, participation and interaction patterns, and of recovery careers, but also fo all patterned behavior and behavior expectations -- plus the analysis and interpretation of the functions of given patterns. Supplemented by rich first-hand accounts and abundant descriptive materials, the study's product-goal is a useful, comprehensive and in-depth presentation of the A. A. society, group life, culture, and recovery dynamics.