Why do so many self help doctrines use twelve steps why not some other number?

Answer 1

Answer

The Twelve Steps were formulated by the founders of Anonymous. This program of recovery has proven to be somewhat effective, and AA has loaned their steps to literally dozens of groups focusing on recovering a level of physical, emotional, and spiritual accountability in the face of an overpowering drive towards self-destruction in many forms.

There is no evidence whatsoever that the framers of the Twelve Steps chose the number twelve for any reason. There were six core principles of the Oxford Group, the group that formed the basis for Alcoholics Anonymous. There are 10 Commandments in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Both of these were sources which influenced the incorporation of the steps, but neither can be specifically called out as a primary influence.

The simple fact is that these principles were enumerated for order and for clarity. There was no decision made that twelve was better than any other number for any particular reason. They stopped at twelve simply because that's where they stopped. Most accounts of the process which led to the Twelve Steps read like a musician's description of the song-writing process. They didn't feel that they authored the Twelve Steps, rather they thought of them as a divine gift delivered through them to the community of alcoholics in desperate need of sobriety.

Claims that the number twelve had some underlying religious or numerological significance are simply unfounded. No credible resource can be found that imply this in any way. To the contrary, the founders of the 12 Steps were trying to move away from the Christian concepts of Sin, Retribution, Damnation, and Forgiveness. These men and women were in the majority Christian, although many were distant or entirely separated from organized religion.

By maintaining the number 12 through their Steps, Tradition, and Promises, they held fast to one of the basic tenants of all recovery programs; "Keep It Simple". There are Twelve Traditions because there are Twelve Steps, and there are Twelve Steps because that's how many there needed to be.