Birth, life, and death of a public policy: an ethnography of the Open Arms program

Abstract

Public policies for the crack cocaine scene known as Crackland (São Paulo, Brazil) have been implemented for decades, but there has been no comprehensive description of such policies. We conducted this study due to the importance and innovative nature of the Open Arms program, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the program, from its beginning until it was closed down. The description involves: (i) a survey of the activities developed by public agents who preceded the program and who directly influenced its formulation; (ii) a description of the status of Crackland when Open Arms was launched; (iii) specification of the institutional actors and their respective roles; and (iv) an explanation of the main events marking this public policy's development until its extinction. We drew on our ethnographic experience at Crackland, comparable to an important share of the literature on this topic. We identified strong influence from prior work by the professional staff, especially in the field of mental health in the municipal government in designing and developing the Open Arms program; however, the program developed with active participation by various entities, with important collaboration between municipal departments and agencies. The study revealed a close and adaptive relationship between the program and the Crackland scene, as well as clashes with organized crime and the police, requiring the development of specific skills by the municipal agents. When the program was dismantled, it left an important legacy with the emergence of activism in defense of the rights recently acquired by crack users, which should certainly play out in the form of some resistance to government measures.