Motivação no trabalho voluntário: o caso da associação de proteção e assistência aos condenados de Macau - RN

Abstract

The goal of the research is to describe reasons for voluntary work at the Associação de Proteção e Assistência aos Condenados (Association for the Protection and Assistance of Convicts) (APAC) supported, under evaluation, by the so called recovering (inmates), of the work that is being carried out. It is a prison unit with its own method based on the Penal Execution Law (LEP) and the Federal Constitution. Until the first half of 2023 there were 64 APACs in operation in Brazil, one of them, in Rio Grande do Norte, located in the municipality of Macau. APAC Macau has 25 volunteers, of which three participated in this research. Two focus groups were held – one with volunteers and the other with the recovering patients. The collected data were analyzed from the model of Hierarchy Levels of Volunteer Work proposed by Sousa and Medeiros (2012). The analysis, not conclusive, indicates high levels of altruism among informants, justified by the comparison they make between the common prison system and the APAC system – which is based on 12 elements: Community participation; The recovering helping the recovering; Work; Spirituality; Legal assistance; Health care; Human enhancement; Family; The volunteer and the training course; The Social Reintegration Center (CRS); Merit; Liberation Journey with Christ.