There are two things that might make it hard to trust any statistics on AA.
One, I don't think they keep any records of the people that attend do they? It is not like a rehab hospital where it might be possible to track success. If someone quits attending AA are they drinking? Did they quit for some other reason? Who would keep track of this and how would they gather accurate information.
I found some stats on the web based on how many meetings people attend on average. But that is probably skewed because, at least here in Florida, any sentence for any alcohol related crime includes mandatory attendance at AA. How fair is it to judge their success by studying people that are forced to attend?
Based solely on people I have known, the success record of any program is pretty low.
These are important points. I looked into this pretty carefully a few years ago. There are studies that break these things down by category, but the results of these studies tend to be abused by people who favor one recovery method over another. There are websites devoted to pointing out AA's low success rates. One statistic that sticks in my head is that for alcoholics over 40, AA has a lower rate of permanent recovery than spontaneous remission. IIRC, all programs have a fairly low rate of permanent recovery, "recovery" being defined as stopping drinking.
To which I say, "So what?" That doesn't mean that AA isn't a good choice for millions of people. People on this forum, and friends of mine, say that they have tried many methods of quitting, and AA was the only one that worked for them. Many people say that they'd be dead without it. I believe them.
I have a problem (beyond my atheism) with the "surrendering to a higher power" idea. I think it's a substitution of one dependency for another. I want to feel that I can gain control of myself. Some people go to AA meetings every day for decades. Again, so what? That may be exactly what they need. That dependency beats the hell out of being dead.
You are correct that there is no prescribed deity (at least in meetings that follow the official policy). However, the previous sentence is incorrect. A person may choose the universe, a philosophical principle, a minor diety, AA as a whole, a particular AA meeting, or even an inanimate object. A person, may not, however, choose him or herself as a higher power. One who asserts that "I am more powerful than myself and therefore I will turn my will over to the care of me" will quickly end up chasing one's own tail.
I think the problem people run into is thinking that there's only one kind of addiction, one kind of addict, and that one kind of treatment should work best for most people. For some addicts, the cold-turkey, pull yourself up by the bootstraps approach works. For others, the Rational Recovery method might be best.
The important thing is that anyone who wants to quit, not stop searching until they find a method that works. I had a friend visiting who was a newly recovering alcoholic, and I had the chance to go to several different AA meetings with her. One thing I learned, which has been mentioned here, is that there is a
wide variety of meetings available to someone who lives in a large city. If someone here is contemplating going to AA meetings, or has been turned off by going to a particular meeting, I suggest trying several. There may be another meeting nearby that suits you much better. Even the physical location can make a big difference. Some of those church basements are downright dingy and depressing. Other locations are light and airy.
Another thing I learned is that no matter how much you think you've effed up in life, you're likely to meet many people at AA meetings who are far more advanced at demolishing their own and others' lives. Many of these people have been victimized in the past and are trying to break out of a cycle of abuse and victimization. You will hear some truly horrifying stories. This affected me in two ways. First, I thought, "Geez, my life could be a whole lot worse." Second, it is inspiring to see that, despite all they've been through and are going through, these people are walking, talking, laughing, and taking positive steps to improve their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
ETA, well, luchog covered these points better than I can.
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