Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre

This article widens the debate surrounding supervised injecting facilities (SIFs) by exploring an aspect of SIFs yet to be examined in the scholarly literature: the relationships created between staff and clients within these settings. By analyzing entries made in the Sydney Medically Supervised Inj...

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Main Authors: Rance, J., Fraser, Suzanne
Format: Journal Article
Published: Federal Legal Publications, Inc 2011
Online Access:http://www.federallegalpublications.com/contemporary-drug-problems/201106/cdp-2011-38-1-05-rance-accidental-intimacy-transformative-emotion-
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14338
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author Rance, J.
Fraser, Suzanne
author_facet Rance, J.
Fraser, Suzanne
author_sort Rance, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article widens the debate surrounding supervised injecting facilities (SIFs) by exploring an aspect of SIFs yet to be examined in the scholarly literature: the relationships created between staff and clients within these settings. By analyzing entries made in the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre’s (MSIC) client comment books we explore the centrality of emotional connection to clients’ experiences of the service. We argue that the everyday contact between staff and clients—including the “accidental intimacy” that develops when clients inject in the presence of staff —counters the sensations of shame identified by many in the comment books, creating new relations, and new performative possibilities for the production of self, belonging and citizenship for clients of the service. In exploring the role of emotions in the operation of the MSIC we also aim to highlight the political, policy, and clinical value of qualitative forms of inquiry for the harm reduction field.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:07:33Z
publishDate 2011
publisher Federal Legal Publications, Inc
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-143382017-01-30T11:43:01Z Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre Rance, J. Fraser, Suzanne This article widens the debate surrounding supervised injecting facilities (SIFs) by exploring an aspect of SIFs yet to be examined in the scholarly literature: the relationships created between staff and clients within these settings. By analyzing entries made in the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre’s (MSIC) client comment books we explore the centrality of emotional connection to clients’ experiences of the service. We argue that the everyday contact between staff and clients—including the “accidental intimacy” that develops when clients inject in the presence of staff —counters the sensations of shame identified by many in the comment books, creating new relations, and new performative possibilities for the production of self, belonging and citizenship for clients of the service. In exploring the role of emotions in the operation of the MSIC we also aim to highlight the political, policy, and clinical value of qualitative forms of inquiry for the harm reduction field. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14338 http://www.federallegalpublications.com/contemporary-drug-problems/201106/cdp-2011-38-1-05-rance-accidental-intimacy-transformative-emotion- Federal Legal Publications, Inc restricted
spellingShingle Rance, J.
Fraser, Suzanne
Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title_full Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title_fullStr Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title_full_unstemmed Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title_short Accidental intimacy: Transformative emotion and the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
title_sort accidental intimacy: transformative emotion and the sydney medically supervised injecting centre
url http://www.federallegalpublications.com/contemporary-drug-problems/201106/cdp-2011-38-1-05-rance-accidental-intimacy-transformative-emotion-
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14338