A produção científica da Psicologia sobre os contextos rurais na América Latina

Abstract

Rural contexts constitute a new field of research in Latin American psychology. Thus, some challenges have permeated this approach, highlighting the theoretical gaps regarding the rural category. Therefore, the objective was to investigate how the scientific production of Psychology has been approaching rural contexts in Latin America, through an integrative literature review. Scientific articles were analyzed in the form of empirical studies on the subject written by Latin American psychologists. The searches were carried using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA), using the term “Psychology” and the Boolean descriptor and for the terms, “rural area” and “rural population”, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, and in the following databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Redalyc, Scielo, PEPSI and LILACS, which resulted in 89 articles. The main results demonstrate that the scientific production of Psychology in Latin America on rural contexts is recent and is still concentrated within some countries. In addition, there was a predominance of terms and expressions that define rural by the physical-geographical sense. It is noteworthy that there are few reflections on the rural category, with Social being the area that produce the most on the theme and reflect on this category. Despite some gaps, there was still an effort by Psychology to present the specificities of rural contexts, which can open an important space for analysis, discussion and proposition of contextualized practices. It is concluded that, so that Psychology can contribute effectively in the field of rural contexts, it is urgent to problematize the theoretical aspects about rural, understanding that it is a category of theoretical reflection and not just a place where research is carried out. It is necessary for Psychology to position itself clearly and show where and how it can contribute to the understanding and transformation of rural Latin American contexts.