This paper explores ethical dilemmas in relation to practices of alcohol and drug consumption in the workplace by manual pit emptiers in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Based on observations and interviews with workers, we come to understand the consumption of painkillers and gin as a mechanism to alleviate stigma, rather than an issue of addiction. Indeed, the consumption of psychoactive substances before manual pit emptying appears as a performance to create a symbolic distance between the worker entering half-naked in a tank filled with faecal sludge and the social being, who would never do so in a ‘normal state of mind’. This analysis calls both for a deconstruction of the policies and rules that shape the sanitation sector as shameful and ‘inhuman’ and for proposals to ameliorate those conditions. Furthermore, we explore our positions as researchers on why revealing such practices can make sense in action-oriented research but also must be thought through ethically. Beyond the guidance of institutional ethics boards, the question of short- and long-term engagements with research subjects is central in shaping what ought or ought not to be investigated. We thus contribute to the discussions on how to support better science and practices with and for already stigmatized populations.

中文翻译：

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污名化的职业和模糊的主题：塞拉利昂环卫工人和阿片类药物消费的方法论反思


本文探讨了塞拉利昂弗里敦的手动坑式清空机在工作场所饮酒和吸毒行为所带来的道德困境。根据对工人的观察和采访，我们逐渐了解到，止痛药和杜松子酒的消费是一种减轻耻辱的机制，而不是成瘾问题。事实上，在手动排空坑之前消耗精神活性物质似乎是一种表演，目的是在半裸地进入装满粪便污泥的水箱的工人和社会存在之间建立象征性的距离，而社会存在在“正常状态下永远不会这样做”。头脑'。该分析呼吁解构那些将卫生部门塑造为可耻和“不人道”的政策和规则，并提出改善这些条件的建议。此外，我们探讨了作为研究人员的立场，为什么揭示这些做法在以行动为导向的研究中有意义，但也必须在道德上进行思考。除了机构道德委员会的指导之外，与研究对象的短期和长期接触问题对于确定应该或不应该调查的内容至关重要。因此，我们致力于讨论如何为已经受到污名化的人群提供更好的科学和实践。