Entre a proteção e a responsabilização: uma análise da atuação dos centros de referência da assistência social junto às mulheres

Abstract

In Brazil, the late attempt to establish a Social State was run over by neoliberalism. Social policies were built between punctual and compensatory actions, based on the historical heritage of the approach to the “social issue”, through philanthropy and the private sphere. Only in 1988, after the political reopening and the pressure from progressive sectors of civil society, it was drawn to the Federal Constitution to ensure citizenship rights to the population. Even so, it was only in 1993 that the Organic Law on Social Assistance was regulated, although it was not fully implemented. Since 2003, with the government of the Workers' Party, this field has made political and legal advances: income transfer programs were unified through the Bolsa Família Program; the National Social Assistance Policy was regulated; the Single Social Assistance System constituted; social assistance services reorganized by levels of protection; public equipment were created to serve families (the Social Assistance Reference Centers and the Specialized Social Assistance Reference Centers); access to social policies and income transfer programs were centralized in the Single Registry; the Family Protection and Assistance Service became part of the Social Assistance network of continuous action services financed by the Federal Government, which must take place at CRAS and offer individual and collective actions. Thus, accompaniment to families has become the responsibility of the State and the social and family matrix founding in the provision of services. The woman started to be placed as “responsible for the family” both in Social Assistance and in the PBF. However, within the framework of a policy related to the family, it must be emphasized that these forms of intervention have intergenerational care as one of their main purposes, that is, having unpaid reproductive work. Thus, while the family responsible receives the benefit of the PBF, she also undertakes to fulfill obligations that reinforce cultural standards that keep the female figure linked to traditional gender roles. With the expectation of contributing to this debate, from a critical view of PNAS, this dissertation sought to produce an analysis of socio-assistance practices aimed at women and their families, in Basic Social Protection, based on the following question: from social work with women's groups developed in the PAIF in which trend will direct the activities carried out by the technical team of CRAS in Natal / RN: protective or familist? To answer this question, the objective was to analyze how these activities are planned and operated by the technical team at CRAS. Specifically, we sought to map and characterize the activities developed by the technical teams for the female audience of the CRAS in Natal / RN; and analyze from which theoretical perspective the technical team is based to plan and develop these activities. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants from the technical team of CRAS in Natal / RN, who had training in psychology or social work. This information was systematized and analyzed under Marxian inspiration. The results point mainly to a mismatch between the theoretical / methodological approach and professional practice; a distancing from the relationships between the technical team and the families and an urgent need for investment in actions that carry out social and family matriciality, considering that women are the majority to access CRAS and actually occupy the place of "family reference". This shows the mixture between the protective and familial tendencies in the conduct of the groups offered.