Public and social policies in the face of social vulnerability in the Cracolândia

Abstract

This ethnographic study discusses the operationalization of public and social policies in the face of social vulnerability in the Cracolândia. Data was collected by means of participant observation annotated on a field diary and ethnographic interviews with individuals who use drugs in the territory and/or attend the É de Lei Community Center and with the harm reduction agents of said Non-Governmental Organization (ONG). The study was developed in 2018 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Theory. Social policies geared to drug users must consider the social determinants of health at the root of various inequalities. It is unacceptable that health actions for people in social vulnerability do not address issues of housing, food, education, work, and income. Hence, public policies must assume and perform their intersectoral and interdisciplinary character, otherwise they will continue to be arbitrary and unsuccessful in caring for those who need help and not tutelage and reprehension of the State.