This paper aims to understand the multiple strategies developed by frontline workers to deal with situations of violence in vulnerable territories. We analyze the micro-dynamics within which workers operate to understand how the State deals with violence. Empirically, we analyzed data from interviews with 140 frontline workers implementing different policies not directly related to violence in neighborhoods located in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, known for their populations’ precariousness and vulnerability. The results expand the understanding of the different ways in which violence expresses itself in these places and show that the reactions developed by frontline workers are more complex than those suggested by the existing literature. The multiple violence to which these workers are exposed is used and manipulated by them in various ways during policy implementation. Frontline workers can ignore, negotiate with, or combat violence. They use their agency to develop different reactions based on how they and the policies are embedded or disconnected to the territories.

本文旨在了解前线工作人员为应对脆弱地区的暴力情况而制定的多种策略。我们分析了工人运作的微观动态，以了解国家如何处理暴力。根据经验，我们分析了对 140 名前线工人的访谈数据，这些工人在巴西圣保罗市的社区中执行不同的政策，这些政策与暴力行为没有直接关系，该社区以其人口的不稳定和脆弱性而闻名。结果扩展了对暴力在这些地方表达的不同方式的理解，并表明前线工作人员的反应比现有文献所暗示的更为复杂。在政策实施过程中，这些工人所面临的多重暴力被他们以各种方式使用和操纵。一线工作人员可以无视暴力、与之谈判或与之抗争。他们利用他们的代理机构根据他们和政策如何嵌入或与领土脱节来制定不同的反应。