(Non)Religiosity, context and drug use: a cross-cultural study Brazil-Portugal

Abstract

Risk and protective factors for drug use have still been investigated (and controversial) in several populations. Qualitative research explores subtle nuances that are difficult to be perceived and reported in quantitative research, such as the roles of violence, invisibility, stigmatization, poverty, resistance to police actions, and religious conversion, among other aspects. However, this elucidative potential of qualitative research on drug use could benefit from cross-cultural studies, which are currently scarce. Specific qualitative studies on religiosity and drug use are also rare. Objective: To compare contextual, religious, and family dimensions of drug use in Brazil and Portugal. Thus, it is intended to study explicit and subtle contextual aspects of drug use scenes in Portugal, investigate personal perspectives of Portuguese people in drug use scenes, observe family patterns (behavior, religious beliefs, etc.) among people who use drugs in Portugal, to compare the results obtained in Portugal with the qualitative data collected in Brazil in the scholarship's original doctoral research and to discuss how much Brazilian and Portuguese contextual aspects, as well as dimensions of personal and family beliefs, contribute to any differences and similarities observed in both countries in relation to drug use. Method: For a contextualized and in-depth study of the scenes and contexts of drug use, the ethnographic method will be used, with prolonged incursions that will allow the daily observation of consumption patterns. The ethnographic incursions will be carried out among people who use drugs in the territories covered by the Risk Reduction and Harm Minimization (RRMD) team in the city of Porto, Portugal. Individual interviews will be conducted that will cover aspects related to drug use and theistic or atheistic beliefs on the part of the person. Questions will also be asked about drug use and the religious beliefs of family members from the last three generations. These data will enable the construction of a genogram, which will enable a broader understanding of family influences on drug use and on religious or non-religious beliefs. The genogram is a graphical presentation of familiar patterns of behavior and their possible influence on current behavior. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to the understanding of the impact of intra and intersubjective dimensions on drug use, with an emphasis on religiosity, the family context, and the broad psychosocial reality of Portugal and Brazil. (AU)