Great insight from our CEO David Whitesock on the “chicken and egg” problem of recovery capital.
Social entrepreneur turning data into intelligence for behavioral health, recovery support, and communities | Founder at Commonly Well | Architect of the Recovery Capital Index
Recovery capital in the real world: the chicken and the egg problem. When we usually think about the concept of #recoverycapital we usually consider it as a means to an end — moving a person from an addicted state to a recovery/recovered state. But if we only think about recovery capital that way and the only research conducted follows that path, then we end up with an asset class with limited impact. My involvement in a local government conference got me thinking about the element of civic engagement and how that asset reveals itself in a recovery capital framework. The very few articles that look at civic engagement (see link in comments) consider it as a result of being “in recovery” and then capital for maintaining recovery (i.e., abstinence). But what if we looked at civic activity and access to civic opportunity as a means to curbing addiction in the first place? Is that still “recovery capital”? Most would say “no” but I argue that this is a more robust asset class of resilience capital and an approach that could save far more lives and treasure in the long run.
