Violence in harm reduction: Exploring the social, political, and emotional conditions of harm reduction work

Harm reduction professionals strive to reduce the health, social, and legal consequences associated with drug use in contexts permeated by violence. Building on fieldwork in Paris and Barcelona, we examine how they make sense of this violence. In Paris, the discussion of violence primarily hinges on the narratives of suffering from people who use drugs and the obstacles posed by the political context. In Barcelona, the narrative emphasizes precariousness and deficiencies in organizational violence management, which intensifies perceptions of violence. Moving beyond polarized understandings of violence, we argue that violence is socially constructed as an inherent aspect of the culture of harm reduction work. This process involves mechanisms of naturalization, delegitimization, and normalization, shaping work experiences and the construction of the professional self. Although violence manifests in similar forms and manifestations across settings, experiences of that violence differ based on how it perpetuates power dynamics and inequalities within the workplace.