“One Among Many”: Piety Reconstruction in 12-Step Recovery Groups

Rhetoric Review Apr 2023

“One Among Many”: Piety Reconstruction in 12-Step Recovery Groups

Michelle Cowan

Abstract

This article applies Kenneth Burke’s concept of piety to an evaluation of nine recovery stories from members of four different 12-step fellowships. In this theoretical context, recovery can be explained as a process of adopting and remaking pious systems. All nine recovery stories follow a similar pattern: (1) identifying difference and similarity in the community; (2) letting go of old pieties; (3) adopting group piety; and (4) inventing and remaking individual systems of piety. This analysis investigates how individual and group pieties interact to strengthen or threaten individual recovery and group cohesion.

Journal: Rhetoric Review
Published: 2023-04-03
DOI: 10.1080/07350198.2023.2210797
Open Access: Closed
Topics: archival research

Citation Context

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