Harm Reduction Hacks in Focus: Space Hacks
Philosophical Orientations
There are 5 hacks in this section
The Heart Behind the Practice
Exploring the values, ethics, and lived wisdom of harm reduction
People who’ve worked in harm addiction for a long time, often referred to as the OGs, are pretty universally clear that harm reduction is not just about the tools and information that we provide participants to prevent disease and encourage wellness. Harm reduction, done correctly, is equally about the emotional and philosophical spirit of the people providing services that helps us recognize and appreciate each individual’s inherent dignity and worth.
In light of that, Space Hacks is choosing to explicate the philosophical underpinnings that long-time harm reductionists are working from when creating best practice harm reduction services, and the tenets that underpin much of Space Hacks.
Harm Reduction
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
Harm reduction is the foundation of the Hacks, combining practical support with compassion for people facing stigma and structural barriers.
Principles of Harm Reduction
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
These principles were developed over a period of about four years in the 1990s amid much debate among early harm reductionists, who came to consensus on these enduring principles of harm reduction.
Consent Culture
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
The concept of “consent culture” emerged from the sex positive movement of the 1980s and 90s. It was a response to the concept of “rape culture”, a term that had been coined to describe the experience that many people—especially women, queer and trans people—have of sexual violence and harassment.
Restorative and Transformative Justice
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
The restorative and transformative justice movements are two other sibling movements of the harm reduction movement, like the sex positive movement, that produced the idea of consent culture.
Trauma-Informed
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
The term “trauma-informed” emerges from a growing understanding of the far reaching ways that trauma impacts health and well-being. Trauma is defined here, in keeping with the scientific literature, as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience(s) that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, and significantly impacts their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
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"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
Fred Rogers -
"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
Fred Rogers -
"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free."
Thich Nhat Hanh -
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr. -
“One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
Charles M. Blow -
“The bottom line is that overdose prevention sites — which exist in more than 100 cities around the world — offer compassion for fellow human beings,”
Mayor Jim Kenney -
“As always, be transparent with participants about what you have, what you don't have, and/or what's for only special populations.”
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“Many of the harm reduction leaders interviewed talked about the importance of not having too many policies and involving your participants in the development of policies—especially those that impact them directly.”
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"Opponent’s of syringe service programs and harm reduction in general typically remark that it “sends the wrong message.” The message they are referring to is, “We love you and want you to be safe.”
Christopher Abert -
"The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma."
Judith Lewis Herman -
"Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
Dominique de Villepin -
"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
Fred Rogers -
"One of the most important things we can do as advocates is to define & make concrete the vague terms used by politicians. What does it mean to “take a public health approach”? What you mean when you say “treatment”? Politicians rarely know. Our job is to make it plain for them."
Jonathan Giftos -
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”
Thich Nhat Hanh -
We need to play that game where we require politicians to finish every sentence denouncing supervised injection facilities with the phrase, “and that is why I think injecting alone in a McDonald’s bathroom is better.”
Jonathan Giftos -
"One of the problems that arises with the term “people who use drugs” is that it is intentionally pluralistic in its embrace of ALL people who use drugs—from recreationally to deeply problematically. This makes using it to talk about the things that especially impact people who are using drugs problematically very difficult. "
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“Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
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"I describe my experiences as a nurse volunteer at the overdose prevention site as “being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.” And that’s exactly where I want to be as a nurse: working outside the system to make a real difference in people’s lives, showing up in the community when it matters most and challenging rules that directly contribute to the overdose crisis, and exposing government inaction by being part of the solution on the ground. For me, this is what nursing is all about."
Marilou Gagnon -
“Identify five things that you can see, four things that you can touch, three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell and one thing that you can taste.”
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“People who cause harm are often also survivors of harm. If we want to address the roots of violence, we have to honour both truths.”
Danielle Sered -
"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. -
"We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
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"Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
Gabor Maté -
“In general, it is antithetical to harm reduction best practices to call the police except under the most extreme life-or-death circumstances.”
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"There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
Terry Pratchett -
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde -
"We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
Jules Netherland -
"If you question harm reduction works, I can’t help but wonder if you have ever actually seen what happens in these spaces. We promote health safety and dignity, and it works. It is simple, beautiful and changes peoples lives."
Haven Wheelock
- "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
- "Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
- "Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free."
- "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
- “One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
- “The bottom line is that overdose prevention sites — which exist in more than 100 cities around the world — offer compassion for fellow human beings,”
- “As always, be transparent with participants about what you have, what you don't have, and/or what's for only special populations.”
- “Many of the harm reduction leaders interviewed talked about the importance of not having too many policies and involving your participants in the development of policies—especially those that impact them directly.”
- "Opponent’s of syringe service programs and harm reduction in general typically remark that it “sends the wrong message.” The message they are referring to is, “We love you and want you to be safe.”
- "The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma."
- "Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
- "Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
- "One of the most important things we can do as advocates is to define & make concrete the vague terms used by politicians. What does it mean to “take a public health approach”? What you mean when you say “treatment”? Politicians rarely know. Our job is to make it plain for them."
- “When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”
- We need to play that game where we require politicians to finish every sentence denouncing supervised injection facilities with the phrase, “and that is why I think injecting alone in a McDonald’s bathroom is better.”
- "One of the problems that arises with the term “people who use drugs” is that it is intentionally pluralistic in its embrace of ALL people who use drugs—from recreationally to deeply problematically. This makes using it to talk about the things that especially impact people who are using drugs problematically very difficult. "
- “Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
- "I describe my experiences as a nurse volunteer at the overdose prevention site as “being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.” And that’s exactly where I want to be as a nurse: working outside the system to make a real difference in people’s lives, showing up in the community when it matters most and challenging rules that directly contribute to the overdose crisis, and exposing government inaction by being part of the solution on the ground. For me, this is what nursing is all about."
- “Identify five things that you can see, four things that you can touch, three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell and one thing that you can taste.”
- “People who cause harm are often also survivors of harm. If we want to address the roots of violence, we have to honour both truths.”
- "What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."
- "We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
- "Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
- “In general, it is antithetical to harm reduction best practices to call the police except under the most extreme life-or-death circumstances.”
- "There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
- “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
- "We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
- "If you question harm reduction works, I can’t help but wonder if you have ever actually seen what happens in these spaces. We promote health safety and dignity, and it works. It is simple, beautiful and changes peoples lives."