Our goal in this section is to contribute to the learning of qualitative research and its practical application, serving as a guide for those who are in the process of acquiring knowledge, training, and improving in this area. On this occasion, we present a study on Art and Harm Reduction, linking the research to the field of health.
The scientific articles are accompanied by a brief reflective reading guide, as well as prepared answers to guide the analysis of the texts, in order to broaden your understanding of the theoretical and methodological aspects of qualitative research.
Rosado, TM, Oliveira, LML, & Rameh-de Albuquerque, RS (2025). Art and Harm Reduction: a qualitative analysis of a focus group with people who use drugs. Journal of Political Psychology, vol. 25. e24409. https://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/rpp/v25/1519-549X-rpp-25-e24409.pdf
Summary
This study is a qualitative research project that aims to understand how art contributes to the social reintegration of drug users. The research was conducted within the scope of the Fábrica Fazendo Arte Group Project in Recife. When addressing the issue of drug use, the articulation between art and the harm reduction paradigm is highlighted, constituting a care and health attention strategy based on human rights.
Furthermore, the article used focus groups as a qualitative data collection technique and employed Bardin's content analysis for data analysis. The study concludes that art has the potential to foster social interaction and reduce the stigma associated with drug users.
Guide and Reflections on the Article
1. What is the research topic? How is the choice of topic justified?
The research topic is art as a therapeutic resource to promote the social reintegration of drug users in contexts of social vulnerability. Furthermore, the authors articulate the harm reduction strategy with the aim of building a group workspace based on citizenship. In this way, this alternative approach to care in freedom is based on respect for human rights, in order to reduce the stigma associated with drug use.
The art-based proposal aims to create a safe space for strengthening family and community ties and emotional expression. In turn, it addresses the relationship with drug use through themes such as creativity, autonomy, and other broader aspects that cut across the spectrum of drug use.
The topic is justified, given the significant progress made after the Psychiatric Reform, which proposes care and attention to health through mechanisms that favor work with the community and are open to society, without excluding individuals hospitalized in institutions.
Based on these guidelines, for example, the Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS) argues that therapeutic workshops fall under the resources of art and can be implemented for the integral development of people, using strategies such as dance, painting, theater, musical activities, etc.
2. What are the objectives of the study?
The study investigated how art contributes to harm reduction and social reintegration of drug users in situations of social vulnerability.
3. What are the main methodological characteristics of the study? How did the researchers select the participants?
The research adopted a qualitative and cross-sectional design, since data collection occurred at a single point in time during the study, in September 2021. Participants were current or former drug users with risky consumption behaviors. The sample consisted of 6 participants, over 18 years of age, who regularly attended the workshops.
A key aspect addressed in the study is the anonymity of the participants, using fictitious names, in accordance with the ethical principles of research involving human subjects. This precaution is essential in research dealing with issues related to vulnerability and drug use.
Firstly, participants gained access through the Fábrica Fazendo Arte Project, a non-governmental initiative in Pernambuco that follows the guidelines of providing services in freedom.
The researchers invited participants to the activities and introduced themselves through the Fábrica Fazendo Arte project. The team administered questionnaires before conducting the focus group to identify the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants.
4. How did the team conduct the focus group? How did the authors analyze the data produced?
THE focus group The objective was to explore and understand the behaviors and attitudes of the participants in relation to their experiences participating in the project.
The focus group was conducted with 6 participants in a room where the project activities took place, lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. The recording was used with the prior consent of the participants. However, the authors do not specify which thematic areas were addressed.
During the data analysis process, the speeches were transcribed, and the three phases of Bardin's thematic analysis were implemented. The first phase corresponds to a pre-analysis; from a cursory reading of the data, significant indicators and information are observed that allow the material to be organized. The second phase involves the selection of units of analysis, that is, similar or different phrases and contents that may constitute a category of analysis. The third phase consists of analysis through the use of a theoretical framework or references that contribute to the interpretation of the data obtained.
5. What are the main results or categories of the study?
The study clearly shows how qualitative data is organized and presented. The authors organized the results into three categories. Thus, the researchers present the theoretical definition of each category and, subsequently, how it manifested itself in practice, based on excerpts from the interviews that illustrate what was interpreted in each category.
5.1. Experience with harm reduction
The category “Experience with harm reduction” shows that the project aligns with harm reduction practices in users' daily care experiences, highlighting the non-requirement of abstinence.
5.2. Art in harm reduction
In the next category, "Art in harm reduction," it is worth quoting the following excerpt from the text:
“The term used by Girassol, a participant in the focus group, in the elucidated account: “theatre-denunciation.” This term is necessarily political, as it communicates something beyond the story: the life lived by the participants themselves” (p.10).
In this way, art presents itself as a tool for expression not only of the body, but also of the subjectivity and lifestyles of individuals.
5.3. Social reintegration through the Fábrica Fazendo Arte Project
According to the study, the third category was divided into the following subcategories: Autonomy of the person who uses drugs and Support networkThese subcategories were included because they provide more specific information about the broader category.
The category “Social Reintegration through the Fábrica Fazendo Arte Project” presents, on the one hand, the process of rebuilding their work, family, and community activities, referring to the subject's autonomy. On the other hand, it highlights the strengthening of bonds and care within the project group in the face of relapses and difficult moments, configuring the support networks that served as the basis for social reintegration.
We invite you to read the article in its entirety, as it constitutes useful material for the organization and presentation of qualitative data and its theoretical articulation, aiming at a better understanding of the information.
Getting to know the authors
THAÍS MULATINHO ROSADO
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2525-6967
Graduated in Psychology from the Pernambuco Faculty of Health (FPS), Psychologist at IMIP – Institute of Integral Medicine. Professor Fernando Figueira. Recife/Pernambuco, Brazil.
LARISSA MONTEIRO LOPES DE OLIVEIRA
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6286-8793
Graduated in Psychology from the Pernambuco Faculty of Health (FPS). Clinical Psychologist, Recife/Pernambuco, Brazil.
ROSSANA CARLA RAMEH-DE-ALBUQUERQUE
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5273-1476
Doctor of Preventive Medicine/Public Health from the Federal University of São Paulo, Recife/Pernambuco. Psychologist at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Pernambuco (IFPE); Researcher at the Study Group on Alcohol and Other Drugs at the Federal University of Pernambuco (Gead/UFPE); Clinical Supervisor at Tessituras Psicologia e Saúde; Supervisor at CECAF.
