Originally Posted by
Gottalife 
On a personal level I don’t support attendance at AA being part of a sentence, or the soft option between a choice of jail or AA. I think a better approach would be for the courts to set up classes for their offenders, and invite AA to send a couple of speakers along to appropriate sessions. They could also invite speakers from other programs, and those prisoners that are interested can go to whatever organisation appeals. How ever, this would not be a cheap option, and I would speculate that cheapness is one attraction of indiscriminately sending undiagnosed offenders to AA.
Mike, I'm surprised that folks in the US may avoid a jail sentence by attending AA. I agree with your stance on signing papers. In light of your above comments, you may be interested in how differently the UK court system operates. Prison sentences are only imposed upon recidivist offenders, fatal/catastrophic collisions etc. The imposed prison sentence may not be avoided by participation in AA or any other alcohol group.
For the majority of non-aggravated DUIs, the court orders a driving disqualification, imposes a fine, (or community service) and in addition, at its discretion, the court may offer the offender the opportunity to attend a "Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme" course (DDRS).
The DDRS course is run by commercial companies, following a published syllabus, ruled by legislation. If the DDRS offer is accepted, the offender should attend a 3 day course run over 3 weeks; the cost is £150-250, which is paid by the offender. The take up rate is huge, because, once the course is completed, Court then reduces the attendees driving disqualification period by a quarter. The aim is to educate and the published statistics seem positive.
The DDRS syllabus is comprehensive and set out in Units: "1 - Understand the use of alcohol use in relation to driving" and 2- "Change alcohol use in relation to driving". Regarding Unit 1' the syllabus and gives guidance to the course providers:
"This unit recognises that many of those exercising the option to participate in a DDRS course do not have a ‘drink problem’ as defined by the World Health Organisation; they do not engage in drinking that exceeds the government’s sensible drinking limits. Therefore this unit is not intended to be a ‘therapeutic’ or ‘clinical’ intervention. It is not intended to stop them drinking. However, the unit also recognises that some participants may well exceed those limits.
Participants completing this unit should gain a more realistic understanding of the way they use alcohol in relation to driving. In achieving this understanding they are also likely to gain a more realistic understanding of the way they use alcohol generally, which may lead them to think about the implications for their general health. This unit is not designed to deal with general health issues. However, it is reasonable that a participant should be able to ask for simple guidance about where they might seek further support if they feel they need it."
This seems reasonable and I would hope the course trainers signpost the sources of 'further support'.