Report on Narcotics Anonymous Meeting: Observations and Insights

This report details a student's experience attending a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting in Maryland, fulfilling the requirements of a COUC 691 experiential paper. The report begins with an introduction to Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and Al-Anon, providing background information on each organization's purpose and history. The core of the report describes the student's observations during the NA meeting, including the setting, the facilitator's role, the introduction of new members, the reward system for sobriety milestones, and the sharing of personal stories by attendees. The student also notes the supportive and empathetic environment among the members. The report concludes with the student's reflections on the meeting's significance in addiction recovery, the value of the NA model, and the potential application of this experience in future social work endeavors. References to relevant literature are also included, supporting the observations and conclusions drawn from the meeting.

RUNNING HEAD: NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS 1
Title of the Project: Narcotics Anonymous
Student’s Name: -
University Name: -

Narcotics Anonymous 2
1. Introduction-
AA: AA stands for Alcoholic Anonymous, which is the name of an independent organization.
Being the largest and oldest alcohol support group globally, the motto of this organization is
to help people root out from alcoholism and support former alcoholics. The organization
started its journey from 1935 and established by Dr Bob Smith and Bill Wilson at Ohio. At
present, it has several branches spread over the United States and other countries. People who
have problem with alcohol addiction can attend open meetings conducted here, and the
meetings are open to everyone, including the family members of recovering alcoholics
("Alcoholics Anonymous: What Is A.A.?", 2019).
NA: Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a worldwide, community-based organization founded in
1953. The initial membership was very minimal for the first twenty years. In 1983, the
organization published a basic textbook on addiction, which gained enormous population and
the numbers of meeting and membership requests also increased. Presently, NA conducts
almost 67,000 meetings in a week, covering 139 countries ("Information about NA", 2019).
Al-Anon: Al-Anon is a family group founded by Lois W., and Anne B. It is a non-profit
corporation and founded in 1951. It provides global fellowship programs which aim to
recover the family and friends of alcoholics from mental stress and depression. The name of
the organization was derived from the first sections of the words ‘Alcoholic Anonymous',
which can be called as the parent organization of Al-Anon. One notable fellowship program
of Al-Anon is Alateen. It is designed to help teenagers whose lives have been affected by
someone else's drinking. This is not a kind of religious program, and no fees or payments are
associated with it ("What Is Al-Anon and Alateen and Are They Right for Me?” 2019).

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In this article, I will share my experience of attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in
Maryland.
Detailed Description of the Meeting-
The Narcotics Anonymous meeting I attended was held on South Shore recovery club, which
was situated in 1199 Generals Highway, Crownsville, Maryland. The location was very
peaceful and away from daily traffic noises. I went through the main entrance, after
completing basic security checkups. I first met with the facilitator of the meeting and
introduced myself to him. I stated my reason of attending the meeting and asked his
permission to allow me for the session. I also assured him that I am aware of the
confidentiality of the meeting and would not disclose anything without prior permission.
After his affirmative reply, I got permission to enter the meeting room.
As I entered the meeting room, I found the ‘Basic Text' textbook of NA on the desk, which
was a little bit thick in size. There were near about 20 men and women. I took my chair on
the backside of the room and tried to stay calm and quiet as I came here to observe the whole
meeting process, not to create any disruption in the process. The meeting started with the
Serenity Prayer, recited by the facilitator. After the prayer, the facilitator asked if there was
anyone new in the meeting. I was confused and uncertain about how to respond, as I didn't
want to be recognized. So, I remained silent. There were two other women who came to the
meeting for the first time. So, the facilitator quickly conducted an introduction round where
everyone introduced themselves to others. After the introduction round, the facilitator
announced the name of 10 persons and rewarded each of them with a showpiece and a badge
for staying clean for consecutive 15 days. This might seem easier and bit awkward to normal
people, but this was an enormous step for those people who were affected by addiction. And
the reward program was planned to recognize their effort in front of others and motivate them

Narcotics Anonymous 4
to lead a better life. After that, every person shared their story of addiction with others. They
started by saying an introduction which was quite like this,' Hi, My name is X, and I am an
addict'. In the end, they put a conclusion like this, ‘Thank you for hearing me and my story,
and I will not be an addict anymore'. In reply, the group thanked him for sharing his story.
One thing I noticed that after a person completed his story, everyone appreciated it with much
admiration, to encourage the person. The whole meeting was conducted very smoothly and in
the end, everyone greeted each other for being present in the meeting. I refrained myself from
taking any notes in the whole session. According to Gossop, steward, and Marsden, attending
a 12 step self-help groups which include AA and NA meetings can be resulted in
increased self-restraint, and improved physical and mental health (Gossop, Marsden &
Stewart, 2008).
My Observation of the Meeting-
The whole meeting was a new experience for me. So, I observed and tried to note down key
factors and interesting things of the meeting after I came back to home. I noticed people of
different personality at the meeting. Some were jolly, eager to talk to others; some were
tensed and depressed. I observed a women who came alone in the meeting, and she was not
talking to anyone. All the time I saw her sitting in one corner, with a depressed eye. Few
other people tried to build conversation with her but she was not seemed to be interested to
make a conversation. There was another group who came to the meeting due to court order. I
noticed that the number of women was more than men in the meeting. I heard people sharing
their story of addiction, and some of them were very sad. One woman told that she had been
sexually abused by one of her family members and to get rid of that frustration, she started to
take drugs. Another young man told how his friends lured him into taking drugs and even
before his proper understanding; he became an addict. As per past studies, family

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involvement helped clients of drug addiction to abstinence from drugs and extensive family
involvement helped them to make the recovery process much easier (Crnkovic & DelCampo,
1998). Another thing which draws my attention at the meeting was that the group members
are all very supportive of each other and interacted with each other being very modest, polite
and empathetic.
Conclusion
From this unique experience, I understood that NA plays a crucial part in the whole recovery
process from addiction. It allows people facing the same problem to meet with each other,
and by sharing their story, make a strong inter-connection. These meetings also help people
to recover from their feelings of loneliness and motivate them to refrain from any addiction. I
found this model of treatment very nice and helpful. According to the longitudinal studies,
maintaining a constant relationship with NA can result in a greater probability of nourishing
self-restraint, and improved social functionality (Humphreys et al., 2004). As these meetings
are very much related with social works, advocating for addicted people and self-help groups
like AA, NA, I think this experience of myself will surely help me in my future work in the
social sector. These groups provide services like education, advocacy, support to addicted
people and help them to recover from addiction. In order to do that, a hefty amount of
patience, empathy, listening and understanding skills needed. The experience which I got
from the meeting will help me to understand the problems and concerns of people dealing
with addiction. It will also help me to understand what problems drug addiction may create
and spread awareness against it.

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References-
Alcoholics Anonymous : What Is A.A.?. (2019). Retrieved 30 August 2019, from
https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/what-is-aa
Crnkovic, A., & DelCampo, R. (1998). A Systems Approach to the Treatment of Chemical
Addiction . Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025084516633
Gossop, M., Marsden, J., & Stewart, D. (2008). Attendance at Narcotics Anonymous and
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, frequency of attendance and substance use
outcomes after residential treatment for drug dependence: A 5-year follow-up study.
Retrieved 30 August 2019, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5817930
Humphreys, K., Wing, S., McCarty, D., Chappel, J., Gallant, L., & Haberle, B. et al. (2004).
Self-help organizations for alcohol and drug problems: toward evidence-based
practice and policy. - PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved 30 August 2019, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15063905
Information about NA. (2019). Retrieved 30 August 2019, from
https://www.na.org/?ID=PR-index
What Is Al-Anon and Alateen and Are They Right for Me?. (2019). Retrieved 30 August
2019, from https://al-anon.org/newcomers/what-is-al-anon-and-alateen/