Abstract
Religiosity is often analyzed as a variable that would reduce the chances of drug use. However, there is a gap in the literature on the analysis of other roles that religiosity can play in people’s lives. An ethnography was conducted in Portugal from November 2022 to August 2023 in drug use scenes in the city of Porto. Our purpose was to understand whether (and how) religiosity would be present in vulnerable psychotropic territories. It was possible to observe elements of religiosity that would go unnoticed in the face of the evident social and psychological fragilities in the territories. The homeless population is immersed in spaces of exclusion, places that belong to everyone and no one. These environments are also capable of producing their own religious experiences. These adaptations can occur in the commitment to one’s own religiosity, which ceases to encompass the collective and becomes solitary. Thus, religiosity in these marginalized contexts is perhaps one of the few constant elements in the lives of these actors. While everything changes depending on the will of others, such as displacement from a place due to police intervention, and uncertainty regarding food or safety, the subjective protection of religiosity can be a means of providing stability and control. This subjective protection has also been shown to be a risk factor insofar as it increases the feeling of security in situations with a high risk of communicable diseases and overdose. Religiosity can therefore be a source of certainty in a world of uncertainty.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality
KEYWORDS
RELIGIOSITY, SUBSTANCE USE, ETHNOGRAPHY
