Compassion Capital and its IMPact on Treatment and Recovery for users of Spice

• In Event: Theoretical approaches: Labelling, Situational Action and Institutional Anomie

Abstract

Users of Spice have often been linked to ‘crime’ and ‘deviant’ behaviour. This has led them to being stigmatised, with the characteristics imposed on them becoming their “actual social identity” (Goffman, 1963, 12), and one of the main barriers to achieving and maintaining recovery (Santos da Silveira et al, 2016).
This doctoral research aimed to investigate the extent to which stigma and stigma internalisation affected Spice users’ ability to achieve and maintain recovery. Drawing on 21 life story interviews, including 10 with users of Spice and 11 front line clinical practitioners, the researcher found that many participants attributed their progress to the compassion they were shown by others. Compassion helped them on their journey to recovery through the power of self-compassion (Neff, 2021). Self-compassion comprises the same elements of compassion, but it is applied to ourselves as well as others. While stigma remains a powerful force working against individuals trying to achieve and maintain recovery, compassion and self-compassion should be recognised as a valuable asset for those who have previously believed recovery to be out of reach.
Findings from this study have led the researcher to develop the concept of Compassion Capital. Compassion Capital recognises the importance given to the practical ways in which recovery can be supported but also how the value of emotions tends to be overlooked. It provides a feminist integration of the value of emotions in the recovery capital model (Best, 2019). Compassion capital is the development of intellectual and emotional resources that can support and empower the individual through their recovery journey. Recognising the power of emotions in achieving and maintaining recovery can lead to significant developments in the way users of Spice relate and engage with those services and provisions that can help them build their compassion capital.

Author

• Elena Maria Gaschino, University of Lincoln