Outra história : a experiência de dependentes químicos no enfrentamento da vida

Abstract

Drug addiction has been considered social and public health problems in Brazil. Addicts and professionals commonly refer to recovery as a natural process of overcoming this condition. Based on biographical narratives, discussion groups and our expertise, this thesis proposes “recovery" as both a dynamic and historical process of facing life-threatening experiences, considering illness part of living. In this sense, health status improvement relates to the addicts’ ability to act and react to what happens to them. They feel naturally invited to face their own suffering, perceived as a limitation. They gain knowledge by giving meaning to this whole process, as well as from their coping experience. In our research, addicts have developed coping skills through three settings: therapeutic communities, mutual-help groups, and spiritual and/or religious experiences. The process of engagement in these social practices offered them a large field of situated learning activities just as it emphasized the relational nature of knowledge production. Tensions, conflicts, changes, improvements, inventions and power relations offered rich settings in learning opportunities. In these contexts, called communities of practice, dependents shared experiences, knowledge and ways of overcoming their problems, building a community of “addicts in recovery”.