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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被污名化的职业和模棱两可的主题：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人工坑清空者在工作场所饮酒和吸毒的道德困境。根据对工人的观察和访谈，我们开始理解食用止痛药和杜松子酒是减轻耻辱感的一种机制，而不是成瘾问题。事实上，在人工清空粪坑之前消耗精神活性物质似乎是一种表演，在半裸进入装满粪便污泥的水箱的工人与社会人之间创造了一种象征性的距离，他们永远不会在“正常的精神状态”下这样做。这项分析呼吁解构将环卫行业塑造为可耻和“不人道”的政策和规则，并提出改善这些状况的建议。此外，我们探讨了我们作为研究人员的立场，即为什么揭示这些做法在以行动为导向的研究中是有意义的，但也必须从道德上考虑。除了机构伦理委员会的指导之外，与研究对象的短期和长期接触问题是决定应该调查或不应该调查的内容的核心。因此，我们为关于如何为已经被污名化的人群支持更好的科学和实践的讨论做出了贡献。