The wharf rats: A preliminary examination of alcoholics anonymous and the grateful dead head phenomena∗

The Grateful Dead are a San Francisco rock band. Their fans, commonly referred to as "Deadheads", are considered to be among the most loyal group of rock fans in the history of this musical genre. Deadheads nomadic lifestyle, tastes in clothing, normative values and belief in drug use have strong links to the hippie subculture of the 1960's. In recent years a group of recovering alcoholic Deadheads, called the Wharf Rats, have organized themselves around the principles of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Wharf Rats organization now supports a mailing list of over 3000 names. More recently a splinter group has organized around the Narcotics Anonymous program. The split from the Wharf Rats parallels the split between the more traditional A.A. and N.A. organizations. This paper will compare the Wharf Rats organization with more traditional A.A. groups in terms of intergroup communications, public information and spirituality, which is central to 12 steps programs. The split between the Wharf Rats and the N.A. group will also be discussed and comparisons made to the split between the more traditional A.A. and N.A. organizations. This exploratory research begins to question the nature and survivability of specialized 12 step programs in particular environments as a basis for future research in this area. Notes An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Southern Sociological Society's 1990 annual meetings. The authors would like to thank Rebecca Adams and James K. Skipper for their comments and criticisms during the early stages of this project. Thanks also to Bedford Mundell for his insight.