Abstract
Through the stigmatization of drug-using People Living on the Streets (PLS) and the reproduction of violence in health services, this paper reflected on this community and the street space beyond the view of decrepitude with which they are usually seen. In this sense, the research contours were shaped from the objective of knowing practice and knowledge constructed in the care processes among the drug-using PLS. A qualitative study was designed, using the triangulation of participant observation techniques, from the inclusion of one of the researchers in a “Street Clinic” (Consultório na Rua), in an inland city of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, and two types of in-depth individual interviews: the episodic interview and the narrative interview. Three thematic categories were outlined from the data retrieved, as follows: “subjects, territorialities and contexts”, “drugs, social problem medicalization, and control”, and “harm reduction, singularities and care production in the territory”. Thus, understandings about the norms and dichotomies that cross the view of PLS were constructed to consolidate the care offer guided by the perspective of harm reduction.
Key words:
Homeless persons; Drug users; Harm reduction