Religión, violencia y drogas en la frontera norte de México: la resemantización del mal en los centros de rehabilitación evangélicos de Tijuana, Baja California

Abstract

Classical sociology tends to present religion and addictive processes as factors of alienation, opposed to agency. Violence, for its part, has been analyzed in a broad spectrum that ranges from an instrument of domination –for those who suffer it– to an instrument of action –on the part of those who exercise it. However, there are few analyses that observe how religion, addictions and violence are empirically interrelated in the subjective experience of victims and perpetrators of violent acts. Using a qualitative study based on narrative interviews and participant observation, we analyze the way in which violence is re-signified through religion in three rehabilitation centers for drug addicts located in the northern border region of Mexico. We conclude that spiritual warfare is a central resource for re-semanticizing suffering and violence, and constitutes a central aspect of the evangelical model of rehabilitation.