Costruire saperi sulle tossicodipendenze attraverso un’esperienza di ricerca partecipata

The article describes a research project that illustrates the contamination between traditional research methods and participative ones. It is a fieldwork carried out in the social-health area of drug addiction, its focus is the construction of knowledge in the help and care relationships. The research integrates and compares different types of knowledge, including that of experi enced professionals in the Italian drug treatment system, regarding three specific themes: pri mary prevention, socio-occupational inclusion, and professional’skills in the field. Consider ing that the helping professions’ expertise assumes a prominent role, the research shows how more traditional qualitative research tools dialogue with participative ones; moreover, the knowledges incorporated in the helping relationship and the ways of constructing this knowledge, recognizing the value of the various social actors involved, is made explicit.