Effectiveness Analysis of the 12 Step Recovery Program from the Standpoint of the Cultural-historical Approach

Some provisions of Vygotsky’s concept allow us to understand in a new way the e˙ective-ness of the action of 12 step programs in the recovery of addicts. From our point of view, the program implements the following provisions of the cultural-historical approach: the basis for human mental development is a qualiitative change in one’s social situation; training leads to development; thanks to directive training, the addicted people aquire self-regulation; the program promotes the formation of the agency. Becoming a subject of one’s own activity for getting rid of this dependency and its reflection, a person begins to change his/her life in many directions. The article analyzes the tools of the program, allowing to develop a agency position in the process of recovery: the content of the pro-gram, the community itself as a collective teacher, specific members of the community as role models of a healthy lifestyle.