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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Recovery capital is:

The physical, social, and community resource used during the recovery process
The assets that foster resilience and coping mechanisms during recovery
Adaptive to different phases of treatment [1]

What Is Recovery Capital?

Recovery capital is the internal and external resource used to begin the recovery process and maintain sobriety.

Recovery capital combines personal, social, and community support to provide a joined-up approach that supports the addict through recovery [2].

It was first introduced by Robert Granfield and William Cloud in the 1999 book "Coming Clean: Overcoming Addiction Without Treatment."

Different Forms Of Recovery Capital

Personal

Alternative coping mechanisms - heroin users experience an 8% reduction in cravings after learning appropriate coping mechanisms [3]
Self-efficacy - positive associations with alcohol use are 20% higher in those with low self-efficacy compared to high self-efficacy after rehab treatment [4]
Financial management - addiction severity scores are 4.86% lower after money management interventions [5]

Social

Alcoholics/ Narcotics Anonymous - there is a 15% reduction in alcohol use after 2 years of Alcoholics Anonymous support [6]
Working with a sponsor - increases the frequency of abstinence by 25% [7]
Reconnecting with positive influences (e.g. friends and family members who are supportive of recovery) and removing negative influences (e.g. peers in active addiction)

Community

Accessing local recovery community organisations (RCO's) such as Faces and Voices of Recovery UK (FAVOR) [8]
Family members living nearby - family members' encouragement causes a 40% increased probability of an addict seeking treatment [9]
Culturally/ ethnically appropriate support groups - such as BAC-IN for Black, South Asian, and other minority ethnic groups, Muslim Women's Network, and Sikh Helpline [10]

Phases Of Recovery Capital

Before Treatment

Recovery capital works before treatment by:

Intervention - friends and family members demonstrating social and community capital that will be accessed during treatment
Family groups - families understanding the process of treatment to provide encouragement and support for addict whilst deciding to pursue treatment
AA sponsors - alcoholics are able to understand treatment options from a trusted source whilst contemplating rehab

During Treatment

Recovery capital options provided during treatment, help us understand how to apply those same resource later, as part of the long-term recovery journey. [11].

After Treatment

Recovery capital works following treatment by:

The addict having experienced a range of both traditional and alternative therapies in treatment, adding to pre-existing capital options
Using capital to inform aftercare plans, e.g. if a client has high social resources or a variety of coping mechanisms, this is incorporated into aftercare plan
Improving treatment outcomes - 66.1% of those scoring on all forms of recovery capital had maintained abstinence after 1 year of treatment [12]

How To Measure Recovery Capital

Multi-Dimensional Inventory Of Recovery Capital (MIRC)

MIRC scores 4 subscales (social, physical, human, and cultural) from 7-28 to create a composite scale of 28-112.

A score of 70 or over indicates a functional level of recovery capital [13].

The Multi-Dimensional Scale Of Perceived Social Support

The Multi-Dimensional Scale Of Perceived Social Support has the individual answer 12 questions on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

The total score is added up from 1 to 16, with scores over 8 indicating a functional level of social recovery capital [14].

Assessment Of Recovery Capital (ARC)

The ARC Questionnaire has 50 statements, with participants gaining 1 point when they agree with the statement.

A total score of 25 or over indicates a functional depth of recovery capital [15].

The Recovery Capital Assessment Plan And Scale (ReCAPS)

ReCAPS has 35 questions, rated from 1-5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree).

Scores of 35 or lower indicate very low available resources, whereas scores from 120-175 indicate more recovery resources available [16].

How To Gain Recovery Capital

	Personal	Social	Community
Steps To Gain Recovery Capital	Understand and resolve triggers by regular attendance at therapy, improve core beliefs of self, seek stable employment, seek social core support where required, take part in physical exercise once a week	Create a recovery circle from connections in the recovery community, involve family members/social circle in treatment, attend sobriety support meetings in person/online as appropriate, use a sponsor	Find appropriate community resources such as church groups, recovery cafes, aftercare groups, relevant specialist recovery groups, use signposting services as needed [17]

Groups With Less Recovery Capital

Homeless Individuals

Homelessness is a loss of all forms of an individual's physical and human capital, as well as a vicious cycle of stigma due to homelessness reducing opportunities to gain resources related to recovery (i.e, employment, housing).

Stable housing, water, shelter, food, and clothing need to be prioritised for homeless individuals before attempting to increase other forms of recovery capital [18].

LGBT+ Individuals

LGBT+ individuals may have reduced social/community capital due to:

Having not yet come out to family and friends - being unable to fully utilise friends and family's depth of support due to lack of open communication
Fractured relationships due to coming out meaning friends and family are less likely to support individuals in recovery
Experiencing stigma in community due to sexuality - refused access to family/ resources to support recovery due to sexuality [19]

Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders

Those with co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders have reduced personal and social resources that can be drawn upon as a result of:

Self-isolation due to perceived stigma around mental health disorders and addiction
Treatment for co-occurring issues lacking (i) person-centred planning (ii) co-ordinated integration into care planning for addiction recovery

Prioritising mental health treatment in those with co-occurring mental health disorders ensures the patient is able to regain missing recovery support for subsequent addiction treatment [20].

Those Living In Rural Areas

Those living in rural areas have reduced community recovery support due to:

Lack of community recovery resources in local area
Unable to access transport to recovery groups elsewhere

Planning community capital through alternative means (online recovery groups, telephone support, recovery books/ pamphlets, etc) needs to be prioritised for those living in rural areas [21].

Recovery Capital Is Not

Financial security - recovery capital focuses on personal, social, and community aspects that are not connected to financial security
A guarantee of recovery - having all aspects of recovery support available does not guarantee that the individual will recover
Mental health stability - although mental health disorders reduce resources available, mental health stability itself is not automatically indicative of recovery capital

References

[1] Vilsaint, Corrie L., et al. “Development and Validation of a Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC-10) for Alcohol and Drug Use Disorder.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 177, Aug. 2017, pp. 71–76. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021. “Recovery capital represents the quantity and quality of internal and external resources that can be brought to bear to initiate and sustain recovery from SUD. The accrual of recovery capital is theoretically important because greater assets will influence resiliency and coping.”
[2] Pars, Esther, et al. “Using the Recovery Capital Model to Explore Barriers to and Facilitators of Recovery in Individuals with Substance Use Disorder, Psychiatric Comorbidity and Mild-To-Borderline Intellectual Disability: A Case Series.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 12, no. 18, Jan. 2023, p. 5914. “Recovery capital (RC) encompasses the wide range of resources individuals can employ to recover from Substance Use Disorder (SUD). It consists of five subdomains: human, social, cultural, financial, and community RC.”
[3] Ahmadpanah, Mohammad, et al. “Effectiveness of Coping Skills Education Program to Reduce Craving Beliefs among Addicts Referred to Addiction Centers in Hamadan: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Iranian Journal of Public Health, vol. 42, no. 10, Oct. 2013, p. 1139. “Table 2: Intervention group 49.21/15.19 41.96/12.38.”
[4] Brown, Sandra A., et al. “Change in Alcohol Effect and Self‐Efficacy Expectancies during Addiction Treatment.” Substance Abuse, vol. 19, no. 4, Dec. 1998, pp. 155–67. Accessed 28 Jan. 2020. “Figure 1.”
[5] Rosen, Marc I., et al. “A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Money Management-Based Substance Use Intervention.” Psychiatric Services, vol. 60, no. 4, Apr. 2009, pp. 498–504. “Table 1.”
[6] McKellar, John, et al. “Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement and Positive Alcohol-Related Outcomes: Cause, Consequence, or Just a Correlate? A Prospective 2-Year Study of 2,319 Alcohol-Dependent Men.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 71, no. 2, 2003, pp. 302–8. “Table 2.”
[7] Tonigan, J. Scott, and Samara L. Rice. “Is It Beneficial to Have an Alcoholics Anonymous Sponsor?” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol. 24, no. 3, 2010, pp. 397–403. “Table 2 shows the substance use and AA participation of the sample for 12 months. Large reductions in the intensity of drinking were observed over the 12 months (d = −.98) and frequency of abstinent days increased about 25%.”
[8] GOV UK. “Part 1: Introducing Recovery, Peer Support and Lived Experience Initiatives.” GOV UK, 2025. “Clinical guidance and good practice guidelines have highlighted the evidence for and value of peer support and recovery support in treatment systems. This includes a range of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other government agencies (for more details of these, see ‘Part 4: glossary and resources’). These show why local areas should focus on lived experience initiatives and RSS. The clinical and good practice guidance focuses on peer support, self-help, community support networks and mutual aid for people in treatment and in early recovery. However, information about these issues was disparate and this guidance brings comprehensive information into one place. The focus is on support for people who are at any stage of recovery, including people who have never accessed treatment.”
[9] Bischof, Gallus, et al. “Efficacy of the Community Reinforcement and Family Training for Concerned Significant Others of Treatment-Refusing Individuals with Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 163, June 2016, pp. 179–85. “At 3-month f-u, II revealed significant higher ADI engagement rates (40.5%) compared to WL (13.9%).”
[10] Drinkaware. “Drinkaware.” Drinkaware UK, 2021. “Nottingham-based BAC-IN specialise in providing Black, South Asian, and other minority ethnic groups with alcohol and drug peer support services. They also offer family support, group sessions, virtual sessions, and home visits to anyone in or around the Nottingham area.”
[11] Cano, Ivan, et al. “Recovery Capital Pathways: Modelling the Components of Recovery Wellbeing.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 181, Dec. 2017, pp. 11–19. “Findings indicate a pathway to recovery capital that involves greater time in residence (‘retention’), linked to an increase in meaningful activities and a reduction in barriers to recovery and unmet needs that, in turn, promote recovery capital and positive wellbeing.”
[12] Laudet, Alexandre B., and William L. White. “Recovery Capital as Prospective Predictor of Sustained Recovery, Life Satisfaction, and Stress among Former Poly-Substance Users.” Substance Use & Misuse, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 27–54. “At one-year follow-up, 66.1% of the sample had sustained abstinent recovery.”
[13] Bowen, Elizabeth, et al. “Development and Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Inventory of Recovery Capital (MIRC).” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Apr. 2023, p. 109875. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023. “Add the ‘Total’ scores from each section and write this in the dark gray ‘Overall Recovery Capital’ ‘Total’ box. The minimum score is 28, the middle score is 70, and the maximum score is 112.”
[14] Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley. "Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support." 1988. "Instructions: We are interested in how you feel about the following statements. Read each statement carefully. Indicate how you feel about each statement."
[15] Groshkova, T., Best, D., & White, W. "The Assessment of Recovery Capital: Properties and psychometrics of a measure of addiction recovery strengths. Drug and Alcohol Review, 32, 187-194." 2013. "Scoring Instructions. For each response a participant ticked off, 1 point is received. The overall score is calculated by totaling all points, with higher Assessment of Recovery Capital (ARC) scores indicating higher recovery capital."
[16] Braucht, George. S. "Recovery Capital Assessment Plan and Scale (ReCAPS)." 2017.
[17] White, W. & Cloud, W. "Recovery capital: A primer for addictions professionals." 2008. Counselor, 9(5), 22-27. "Family/social recovery capital is indicated by the willingness of intimate partners and family members to participate in treatment, the presence of others in recovery within the family and social network, access to sober outlets for sobriety-based fellowship/leisure, and relational connections to conventional institutions (school, workplace, church, and other mainstream community organizations). "
[18] Neale, Joanne, and Caral Stevenson. “Social and Recovery Capital amongst Homeless Hostel Residents Who Use Drugs and Alcohol.” International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 26, no. 5, May 2015, pp. 475–83. “Homeless hostel residents who use drugs and alcohol have various opportunities for building social capital that can in turn foster recovery capital. Therapies that focus on promoting positive social networks amongst people experiencing addiction seem to offer a valuable way of working with homeless hostel residents who use drugs and alcohol.”
[19] Rowan, Noell L., et al. “What Is Valued in Gay and Lesbian Specific Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment?” Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, vol. 25, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 56–76. Accessed 3 Apr. 2020. “Within the community type of recovery capital is the concept of cultural capital, which includes culturally sensitive resources for various racial and ethnic groups, and other active efforts to reduce stigma and make visible the needs of diverse groups in society (White & Cloud, 2008).”
[20] Basu, Debasish, and Nitin Gupta. “MANAGEMENT of ‘DUAL DIAGNOSIS’ PATIENTS : CONSENSUS, CONTROVERSIES and CONSIDERATIONS.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 42, no. 1, 2025, p. 34. Accessed 13 June 2025. “Table 1.”
[21] Palombi, Laura, et al. “‘One out of Ten Ain’t Going to Make It’: An Analysis of Recovery Capital in the Rural Upper Midwest.” Journal of Drug Issues, vol. 49, no. 4, July 2019, pp. 680–702. “Key findings included barriers related to transportation, as well as access to and availability of sober meetings and sober living activities. Participants perceived connections to culturally appropriate treatment as particularly important. A reconstruction of social networks from those promoting addiction to those supporting recovery was also prominently emphasized.”

About the author

Harriet Garfoot

Harriet Garfoot BA, MA has an Undergraduate degree in Education Studies and English, and a Master's degree in English Literature, from Bishop Grosseteste University. Harriet writes on stress & mental health, and is a member of the Burney Society. Content reviewed by Laura Morris (Clinical Lead).

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Last Updated: June 13, 2025