Exactly how one should approach taking the 4th Step inventory has been a problem many of us have had to face. Different guides have been developed by well-meaning folks in many different 12 Step programs. These guides range from simple list-making techniques to lengthy questionnaires totaling fifty pages and more. All would agree that this is a vital Step for anyone serious about recovery from addiction, but there are a great many opinions out there about how it should best be done. 

Of course, when Bill Wilson came into contact with the Oxford Group and found sobriety through his friend Ebby, there were no guides and there were no 12 Steps; there was only a “word of mouth program” and the Four Absolutes or Moral Standards. These consisted of: Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness and Love against which new men and women were asked to measure their lives. Out of these principles emerged the Steps. Newcomers to the Oxford Group like Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob would be asked to write down these Four Standards on four separate sheets of paper, and then write about how and where they had fallen short of living up to them in their lives. They would then share their “moral inventory” with another group member, make restitution for harms done, practice daily Quiet Times by reading scripture and listening for God’s Guidance, and by being of maximal service to God and to others. (See http://DickB.com for an extensive historical view of these Standards and their impact on early A.A.

Today, to the best of my knowledge, only the fellowship of All Addicts Anonymous has kept the Four Absolutes alive within their spiritual program and through their literature. (See http://www.alladdictsanonymous.org). Additionally, the Cleveland A.A. office still publishes a pamphlet on the Four Absolutes and Old-Timers, both there and around the country, believe they still have a great deal to offer us as a moral compass to guide us in living a new life in recovery. Count me among that group.

Some interesting historical documents have also been uncovered by A.A. archivist Wally P. in researching how 4^th Steps were done in the very early days of A.A. itself. (See http://www.aabacktobasics.org). The following Assets & Liability Checklist that he found in use in the 1940’s in the Washington D.C. area sheds some fresh light on how early A.A. approached this Step. The instructions developed by Wally are also presented here.

Instructions for completing the Assets and Liabilities Checklist: 

1. Start with the Liabilities side of the sheet. Save the Assets portion of the inventory until you have discussed your list of Liabilities with your sponsor or sharing partner.
2. Look over the list of Liabilities. When a name comes to mind that you associate with a Liability, write it at the top of the column. Then check all the Liabilities that apply to that person, institution or principle. Add other names as you think of them. Keep in mind the inventory is yours, not the other person’s. (Examples: Mother, Father, spouse, boss, God).
3. After placing check marks in the boxes to the right of the Liabilities that correspond to the names at the top of the columns, schedule time to discuss the check marks with your sponsor. Remember, recovery comes from sharing your shortcomings, not from analyzing and writing about them.
4. When you have described the various incidents associated with the check marks, your sponsor will help you determine if an amend needs to be made and, if one is necessary, how best to proceed. Together you will circle items where an amend needs to be made. 
5. Once you’ve discussed the Liabilities and agreed upon the amends, you will have to determine the “cause and conditions” that have kept you in the dark and prevented you from finding the spiritual solution to your problems.
6. Your sponsor or sharing partner ends the session by describing the Assets that you already have (those items with the least number of check marks) and those will be strengthened as you make your amends. 

The Liabilities with check marks are the character defects that you turn over to God in Steps Six and Seven. The names above the items that have been circled as needing an amend become your Eighth Step list. So, on one sheet of paper you have everything needed to complete Steps Four through Nine and you can “be rid of the things in ourselves which have been blocking us.” 

The Liabilities with check marks are the character defects that you turn over to God in Steps Six and Seven. The names above the items that have been circled as needing an amend become your Eighth Step list. So, on one sheet of paper you have everything needed to complete Steps Four through Nine and you can “be rid of the things in ourselves which have been blocking us.” 

MORAL INVENTORY

From: Alcoholics Anonymous (New York, NY: April 1939) and

A.A. – An Interpretation of Our Twelve Steps (Washington D.C.: Sept. 1944)

Resentment

Forgiveness

False Pride

Humility

Envy

Contentment

Jealousy

Trust

Selfishness

Unselfishness

Laziness

Activity

Dishonesty

Honesty

Fear

Love

 Blank Assets and Liabilities Checklist

Copyright: Faith With Works Publishing Company, Wally P., 1997, 1998 (Rev. 09/01)

It’s interesting that among the Four Absolutes, only Purity failed to make it onto the Washington Asset List, even though the Big Book makes a strong point in noting that, “We all have sex problems” and it advises us to “get them down on paper” paying special attention to where we had been “selfish, dishonest, inconsiderate…” Purity, as practiced in the Oxford Group, involved more than sex, but it included it as well. Any inventory that doesn’t include it is likely to be incomplete and any recovery that doesn’t include an “overhauling” in this area when it may be needed could prove fatal. 

Fr. Bill Wigmore is Chaplain at Austin Recovery. 

Send comments, questions, speaking requests, or treatment scholarship donations to:
Judy Haney /Austin Recovery / 8402 Cross Park Dr. / Austin, Texas 78754