Book Review 2 17

three chapters suggest that researchers should exercise more caution in making generalizations about such a diverse organization.

A number of chapters address themselves to how change in AA can be conceptualized and measured. In an intriguing contribution, DiClemente puts AA recovery in the context of his transtheoretical theory of change, although his analysis does not give spirituality as prominent a role as it deserves. This later task is more seriously engaged in chapters by Stephanie Brown, Richard Gorsuch, and James Fowler. Through qualitative analysis of inter- views, Fowler demonstrates how AA members progress through various stages of faith as specified by his faith development theory. Along with the Brown and DiClemente chapters, Fowler’s work is a refreshing application of a coherent framework to an area where atheoretical research has been too frequent.

Frederick Glaser concludes the book by discussing the possibility of matching alcoholics to AA. He cogently argues for a referral policy of suggesting all clients try AA but none be forced to, and he also offers helpful comments on the empirical challenges of designing AA matching studies. Yet it is disappointing that neither Glaser nor any other advocate of AA matching seems sensitive to the moral question of whether helping professionals have the right to exert control via matching over a successful, independent voluntary association such as AA. Sixty years ago, helping professionals collectively threw up their hands and said that alcoholics could not be helped, and AA proved them wrong. For clinicians and researchers now to arrogate the right to make judgements over who should go to AA seems an act of hubris.

As editors, McCrady and Miller deserve praise for their choice of contributors. One of the strengths of self-help research is its interdisciplinary history, and this is respected by chapters from historians, sociologists, theologians, and psychologists. The inclusion of researchers from Canada and Europe is also commendable. However, no generalist self-help researchers were included, an unfortunate continuation of the separation of research and ideas on AA and the growing literature on mutual help groups that are not based on the 12 steps and d o not take alcohol as a focus.

My only major criticism of the book is that the editors could have done more to clarify the controversies of AA research by asking individual authors to respond to each other, as directly contradictory views are expressed across chapters. For example, Moos and col- leagues lay out an elegant paradigm for evaluating AA, while Makela argues that ‘no attempt should be made to evaluate AA as such since social movements cannot be evaluated in any technical sense’. Further, Richard Gorsuch’s argument that alcoholics’ degree of religious commitment to spirituality ‘should always be included in every study of alcoholism’ was clearly not accepted by many of the contributors, and some debate on this and other points of disagreement could have helped make the book more informative and lively. Despite this shortcoming, this is the most interesting book on AA to appear in several years and will hopefully guide and galvanize future AA research.

KEITH HUMPHREYS Cknter for Health Care Evaluation,

Palo Alto. USA

Lee, L. & Lee, M. (1992). Absent Friend, High Wycombe, Henston. P p vi + 139. E4.95 paper- back. ISBN 1-85054-089-6.

There are certain books which are impossible for any hopelessly sentimental animal lover to read: I have studiously avoided Dances with Wolves since I heard the wolf died, but when I recently lost my own very close companion, a Siamese cat called Monty, things changed. Like parenthood, I felt I had been admitted to another dimension of human experience, another exclusive club. I feel I am, therefore, reasonably qualified to put this book to immediate practical use.

Absent Friend is written by Laura and Martyn Lee, a bereavement counsellor and vet respec- tively, and sponsored by the Cambridge Pet Crematorium. The result of this promising combi- nation is a practical, readable little book with just the right balance of compassion and vetinerary experience to keep it comforting without being sentimental.

The ten main sections in the book refer to a distinct aspect of the loss of a pet. Each

218 Book Review

section is designed for quick and easy reference, a list of contents at the beginning, a summary at the end, and everything else under headings in between. Important information is repeated throughout, which makes it ideal for selective reading and reference. 1 found this particularly helpful, as a reader in a state of grief will be anxious to read only what is appropriate, and to avoid anything unnecessarily painful or distressing.

The first section, ‘Man and Animals’, deals with relationships. The reader is, therefore, reassured right from the start that he or she is not alone in their apparently unique attachment. This is followed by ‘Love Hurts’, where the shock of breaking that attachment is examined, with the emotions and sensations that surround it. The stages of grief and one’s reactions to it are set out clearly and compassionately. A bereaved person is often frightened and bewildered by the overwhelming and unfamiliar feelings they experience, and examples are illustrated using personal accounts from contributors. I was relieved to discover that my desire to exhume my lost one was perfectly normal.

Coping with pet bereavement can be compounded by the inability of others to understand, perhaps confusing grief with sentimentality. Such attitudes can make one’s suffering hard to justify, particularly if a neighbour or colleague has recently lost a relative, for example, and guilt ensues. The book allows space for this, without being patronizing, simply by encour- aging the readers to allow themselves to grieve as much as they need to.

The sections ‘What to tell the children’ and ‘Pets and the Elderly’ are written in the removed sense-perhaps on the assumption that concerned relatives are more likely to consult the book than those directly affected. This by no means diminishes the pertinence of the message- that there are special needs and considerations for these more vulnerable people. For an elderly person, pet bereavement might raise serious questions about the purpose of their remaining years-perhaps too few to accommodate a new pet. A nursing home may not allow pets, or illness may prevent them from caring for a long-time companion. Each eventua- lity is looked at practically and sympathetically, though the authors are the first to admit there is no comfortable resolution. Children are more resilient but their capacity for grief, and need to fully comprehend death, can be underestimated. Here the book stresses the need for honesty and encouragement in the grieving process. I know from my own experience that children should always be consulted on pet replacement and their wishes respected. Inci- dentally, each section is forwarded by an appropriate piece of poetry. This could be an ideal way of encouraging children to express complex feelings.

There are certain practical issues covered which a recently bereaved person may not have had the opportunity to consider. ‘The Final Resting Place’, for example, discusses the process of pet cremation, the problems of burial, and memorials. ‘Euthanasia’ includes an explanation of exactly what happens when an animal is humanely destroyed by a vet-something which had certainly troubled me. ‘Filling the Gap’ is a sensible discussion of what to do next, rightfully point out that you are not the same person who chose that particular puppy some 10 or 15 years ago. We rushed back to Monty’s breeder and came home with his great-great niece, Phoebe; I was amazed to find my actions had been anticipated by the book’s authors.

All information in this little book is liberally illustrated with the personal accounts of those who took part in the questionnaire contributing to its preparation. Many are particularly harrowing, and as all possible kinds of loss are covered (from violence to ‘loss without a body’-missing presumed dead), one is left with a renewed sense of perspective. I was relieved that my old friend died in my arms, and was not savaged to death in his prime before my eyes.

The inclusion of the ‘obituaries’ section so near the end of the book rather spoiled the optimism I had hoped to finish on. As the book is a reference guide to coping with bereavement, I felt I would have preferred personal accounts of completed grief, rather than these terribly sad accounts of death. However, this is a minor quibble, for otherwise I should unreservedly recommend this book to anyone suffering the isolation of pet bereavement and those close to them. It fills a gap in the ‘coping’ library which was in sore need of research and it has been fulfilled with considerable care and astuteness. A copy of Absent Friendshould be available to every sad family leaving a vetinerary surgery by the back door, with or without that pathetic little bundle.

JANE FOSTER Bath