“I was already there once”: Cumulative attempt capital of marginalized women exiting substance use and street prostitution contributes to their recovery capital

Abstract

Despite a move to view substance use as a disease of the brain, relapse into drugs is still often viewed as a personal failure. Low recovery capital has been used to explain relapse among certain marginalized populations. Recovery capital is a recent framework that refers to the individual's sum of all internal and external assets that may assist in their recovery process. It includes four categories: physical, human, social, and cultural capital. However, this framework does not relate to the role of actual relapses in the recovery process, despite their common occurrence. To bridge this gap, in‐depth interviews with 29 women formerly engaged in substance use and street prostitution in a large urban area were used to probe women about their relapse and recovery experiences. The current study demonstrates the value in repeat recovery setbacks, what I term “cumulative attempt capital”: lessons learned from previous recovery attempts. I argue that previous attempts improve women's social and professional networks, help them learn from past mistakes, improve and maintain their health, and provide them with a sense of self‐efficacy. This research expands our understanding of the positive role failed attempts play in one's recovery. Such reframing by service providers can alleviate a sense of shame and low self‐worth for women in street prostitution and substance use and has implications for policy and program development.