Desenvolvimento sociomoral, ética profissional e educação para a cidadania ao longo do ciclo de vida

A educação para a cidadania ao longo do ciclo de vida constitui uma preocupação da sociedade contemporânea, estando mesmo consagrada nas recomendações do Conselho da Europa. O objectivo desta comunicação é demonstrar que a operacionalização desta recomendação deverá privilegiar estratégias de promoção do desenvolvimento sociomoral, comparativamente a estratégias de mera doutrinação ou de clarificação de valores. A utilização dessa abordagem deverá ser privilegiada em qualquer etapa do ciclo de vida, uma vez que se considera não existir uma ruptura conceptual entre as estratégias utilizadas com crianças e adolescentes e as estratégias utilizadas com adultos, deverão efectuar-se apenas algumas adaptações de conteúdo, relacionadas com as experiências pessoais e profissionais próprias da vida adulta. Assim, revêem-se algumas das principais teorias do desenvolvimento sociomoral, integrando os contributos quer das teorias que enfatizam aspectos cognitivos, quer das teorias que salientam aspectos afectivos e emocionais, com vista a delinear as estratégias pedagógicas mais adequadas para se efectuar uma educação para a cidadania ao longo de todo o ciclo de vida. Apresentam-se alguns dados exploratórios relativos a dilemas morais relatados por estudantes do 1º ano de Serviço Social, diferenciando-se os relatos dos estudantes com e sem experiência profissional. Os relatos dos estudantes com experiência profissional parecem indicar que a experiência profissional constitui um importante contexto de resolução de conflitos e exercício de cidadania. As estratégias pedagógicas baseadas na promoção do desenvolvimento sociomoral são discutidas como as mais adequadas para a promoção de uma cidadania democrática e participativa.

ENTRADA NA PROFISSÃO: ESCOLHA PESSOAL OU IMPOSIÇÃO SOCIAL?

O estudo procura identificar os fatores que contribuem para que os alunos, ao final do Ensino Médio, façam sua escolha profissional, se a escolha que fazem se baseia em algum programa de orientação profissional específico, se seguem uma orientação da família, de amigos, professores ou profissionais da área, ou se é uma imposição situacional, em função da classe social da qual o jovem faz parte. Pode-se encontrar várias respostas, a depender da classe socioeconômica ocupada pelo indivíduo; para cada parcela da população, talvez ocorra a reprodução de seu quadro socioeconômico, visto que os fatores que influem naquela escolha podem variar entre as diferentes camadas da sociedade. A pesquisa bibliográfica inclui autores como Pierre Bourdieu, Jean-Claude Passeron, Maria Alice Nogueira e Alípio Casali, entre outras. O estudo se completa com uma pesquisa de campo, em que foram entrevistados alunos de duas instituições de Ensino Médio, uma da rede pública e outra da rede privada, ambas situadas na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa bibliográfica e qualitativa. Os dados empíricos foram coletados por meio de questionário para respostas diretas, e também com uma questão aberta, para que os alunos envolvidos pudessem contribuir com novos elementos para a análise final.

O IMPACTO DAS REDES SOCIAIS NA PROFISSÃO DOCENTE

Diante do grande avanço tecnológico e utilização de equipamentos e diversas ferramentas no ensino, além da conectividade a qualquer momento, é possível perceber o grande crescimento do uso das redes sociais tanto pelos alunos como pelos professores. Com este crescimento observa-se uma comunicação mais intensa entre aluno e professor fora do ambiente da sala de aula, principalmente por intermédio das redes sociais, com a comunicação eletrônica envolvendo e-mails, conversas online, trocas de arquivos, fotos, vídeos etc. Considerando essa nova realidade esta pesquisa objetivou investigar se existe um impacto dessa nova forma de comunicação na profissão docente. Nesse contexto, tendo como foco privilegiado o facebook, emergiram alguns questionamentos para análise: essa nova ferramenta auxilia na relação professor-aluno? Ela pode trazer algum impacto positivo e/ou negativo para o professor? Qual a influência do uso dessa rede social nas relações trabalhistas? Sua existência e o seu uso podem influenciar nas decisões da coordenação/direção da escola? O estudo partiu do pressuposto de que as redes sociais exercem impactos positivos e negativos, pois podem se constituir como ferramentas que auxiliam a prática pedagógica. No entanto, no que se refere às relações trabalhistas e também, às relações interpessoais, o professor pode estar vulnerável quanto às suas relações institucionais e profissionais. Fundamentada nas concepções de autores que discorrem sobre a utilização dessas redes, e sobre as características do trabalho frente às novas demandas do capital, a pesquisa de campo, do tipo exploratória, direcionou-se no sentido de identificar esses fatores por meio da análise dos dados investigados com professores que utilizam a rede social facebook. Os resultados confirmaram que há impactos de diversas naturezas no trabalho docente. Esta nova ferramenta, ao mesmo tempo em que pode auxiliar na relação professor-aluno, expõe o docente, e é utilizada, pelas instituições de ensino, como instrumento de controle e de exercício de poder que se refletem nas relações trabalhistas.

IMPACTO DO CONFLITO INTRAGRUPAL, DO SUPORTE SOCIAL NO TRABALHO E DO AUTOCONCEITO PROFISSIONAL SOBRE A RESILIÊNCIA: UM ESTUDO COM POLICIAIS MILITARES.

A resiliência é um construto que remete à habilidade do ser humano de ter êxito frente às adversidades da vida, superá-las e inclusive, ser fortalecido ou transformado por elas. Campos de investigações da psicologia, como Psicologia da Saúde, Psicologia Positiva e Comportamento Organizacional Positivo, têm considerado a resiliência como uma importante via para a compreensão dos aspectos positivos e saudáveis dos indivíduos. Este trabalho pretendeu ampliar o conhecimento acerca da resiliência e suas relações com outros construtos no contexto organizacional. Para isto, definiu-se como objetivo geral deste estudo verificar a capacidade preditiva do conflito intragrupal (tarefa e relacionamento), do suporte social no trabalho (emocional, informacional e instrumental) e do autoconceito profissional (saúde, realização, autoconfiança e competência) sobre a resiliência (adaptação ou aceitação positiva de mudanças, espiritualidade, resignação diante da vida, competência pessoal e persistência diante das dificuldades) de policiais militares. Participaram do estudo 133 policiais militares de um batalhão do interior do estado de São Paulo, prevalecendo indivíduos do sexo masculino (97,7%), com idade média de 30 anos (DP= 5,7). Para a medida das variáveis foram utilizadas as seguintes escalas validadas: Escala de Avaliação de Resiliência reduzida, Escala de Conflitos Intragrupais, Escala de Percepção de Suporte Social no Trabalho e a Escala de Autoconceito Profissional. Os dados foram submetidos a cálculos descritivos e a análises de regressão linear múltipla padrão. Os resultados indicaram que o modelo que reunia as variáveis antecedentes (conflito intragrupal, suporte social no trabalho e autoconceito profissional) explicou significativamente a variância das dimensões da resiliência: 30% da persistência diante das dificuldades, 29% da adaptação ou aceitação positiva de mudanças, 28% da competência pessoal e 11% da espiritualidade. As variáveis que tiveram impacto estatisticamente importante sobre a persistência diante das dificuldades foram o suporte emocional no trabalho, cuja direção da predição foi inversa, e autoconfiança, cuja direção da predição foi direta. A adaptação ou aceitação positiva de mudanças teve como preditor inverso a variável saúde e como preditor direto a autoconfiança. A competência pessoal teve impacto significativo da variável autoconfiança, que se mostrou um preditor direto. A espiritualidade, por sua vez, teve um único preditor significante, a variável realização, cuja direção da predição foi direta. Os resultados sugerem que dentre as variáveis antecedentes, o autoconceito profissional evidenciou maior poder de explicação da variância da resiliência. À luz da literatura da área foram discutidos estes achados. Por fim, foram apresentadas as limitações e a proposta de uma agenda de pesquisa que contribua para confirmação e ampliação dos resultados desta investigação.

Qualidade da Construção dos Vínculos entre Filhas Cuidadoras e Mães Idosas Dependentes

Este estudo teve por objetivos: - descrever as dificuldades nas relações entre as filhas-cuidadoras e suas mães idosas dependentes de cuidados, a partir de relatos das filhas; - investigar, a partir dos relatos da história familiar dessas filhas, a existência de conflitos prévios a necessidade de cuidar, relacionados à construção dos vínculos; identificar os principais desafios associados assistência ao cuidador familiar de idosos no que tange a resolução de conflitos com o idoso dependente. Método – tratou-se de um estudo qualitativo em que foram apresentados três casos clínicos de cuidadoras que haviam sido encaminhados para atendimento psicológico pela equipe multiprofissional de um Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia, unidade de atenção secundária da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de S.P. Os resultados indicaram dificuldades relacionais entre ambas: cuidadoras filhas e mães idosas. As cuidadoras revelaram sobrecarga física e emocional e grande sofrimento. Todavia, a existência desses conflitos remontava às relações anteriores à atual situação de dependência; ficando bastante evidenciado, tanto pelas histórias de vida das cuidadoras, quanto pelo conteúdo trazido durante o processo terapêutico, a repetição das relações primeiras estabelecidas entre mãe-filha. O processo psicoterapêutico pôde permitir a essas cuidadoras a compreensão da necessidade em ter suas falhas ambientais supridas, na medida em que foi propiciado um ambiente favorável ao relacionamento humano. Assim, ao observarmos que ao longo do processo as pacientes apresentavam mudanças significativas, entendemos que a psicoterapia pode figurar como meio preventivo e preservação de equilíbrio psíquico.

A condição de saúde do trabalhador moto-taxista do município de Caicó-RN no contexto da precarização

The restructuring process has caused several changes in the workplace since the 1970s in Brazil these changes were more significant during the 1990s, with the implementation of neoliberal policies and the submission of the country's determinations of the IMF and World Bank . In this context, expression wins the increase in structural unemployment and the growth of informality as a mitigating practice the lack of formal employment. At present the activity of mototaxi driver has grown in the municipalities of small, medium and large size of the country. In Caicó / RN, as well as other municipalities, this activity has been presented as an alternative livelihood in the face of rising unemployment. Considering that this is a precarious and risky activity, we wondered about which health conditions of workers in the municipality of mototaxi driver Caicó in the context of job insecurity? What is the perception that this employee has about the health-disease process and its relationship to your work? How to setup the access of motorcycle taxi drivers the right to health and social security? The research sought to examine the health conditions of the workers of the municipality of mototaxi driver Caicó / RN in the context of job insecurity. From the methodological point of view the study worked with documentary research, semi-structured interview and questionnaire with open and closed questions with a sample population of motorcycle taxi drivers of the city, in the period August-September 2013 The results revealed that these workers are if constantly exposed to various risks inherent to the profession as well as the space in which it conducts its business activities, in this case the traffic being traffic accidents and urban violence one of the greatest risks identified by motorcycle taxi drivers in the present study

O processo de inserção dos psicólogos na assistência social em Natal/RN no período de 1972-2003

Since the rules of the National Social Assistance (PNAS) and the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) in 2004/2005 the psychologist action as an essential professional teams in the services offered in this field. Althoug, there are indications of psychologists who worked on the assistence prior this time. This insertion had not systematized in the literature, not allowing the establishment of records of this linear trajectory. The objective of this paper is investigate the entrance and a psychologist working in social care services in Natal / RN , as well as the activities undertaken by them in the period 1972-2003 . This temporal boundary is justified because Natal initiate to have a psychologist from 1972 to 2003 was immediately prior to the landmarks of the 2004/2005 year. The research was divided into two stages: documentary and oral history. The first was through the consultation of 86 monographs of the Sector Documentation Social Service Department of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte , its intend identify what were the services that characterized the health care field and evidence of the presence of psychologists in these spaces. In the second stage, interviews with psychologists who worked 13 trailers to social assistance in order to investigate its performance, activities undertaken, the insertion process in the area, among other things were done. The material analysis was based on themes from a historical perspective. The results point to three major areas of integration of psychologists : in child exceptionality in which psychologists were linked to Brazilian Legion Social Assistance (LBA); the field of the minor through the State Foundation for the Well Being of Minors (center), and occupying positions of management and coordination in some welfare programs.

A reforma psiquiátrica e a política de saúde mental do Rio Grande do Norte: papéis e funções de profissionais e gestores

This study arose from an interest in knowing the reality of mental health care in Rio Grande do Norte (RN) on the advances and challenges in the intersectoral agreements paths and consolidation of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS) from the state. Considering problematic and concerns were defined as objectives: Identify the knowledge of managers of Rio Grande do Norte on the National Mental Health Policy (PNSM) in the RN State; Describe the activities developed by health professionals in the individual service offered in the CAPS from RN; Understanding the relationship of managers’ knowledge on national mental health policy in professionals’ practice working in the the CAPS from the countryside. It is a descriptive study with a quantitative and qualitative approach, carried out in 30 CAPS from RN’s countryside, where 183 professionals answered a structured questionnaire with closed questions about the activities they do in individual care; and 19 mental health coordinators of municipalities and the state coordinator of RAPS were interviewed about their knowledge on the Mental Health Policy. Data were collected after approval by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, with the number 508.430 CAAE: 25851913.7.0000.5537 from August through October of 2014 in 26 municipalities with CAPS from the state. Quantitative data were tabulated and analyzed using a descriptive statistics aided by the software Statistical Package for the Social Scienses (SPSS) version 20.0. The qualitative data were prepared in a corpus and analyzed through software Analyse Lexicale par Contexte d’um Ensemble de Segments de Texte (ALCESTE) that allow to perform textual statistical analysis and categorization from their comments, submitted to Bardin content analysis. Five categories were generated approaching the managers’ knowledge, namely: Back to society: leadership and users’ role and autonomy; The gap between policy and practice; Barriers that affect the service; Structuring the Psychosocial Care Network; Multidisciplinary team: attribuitios and activities. The CAPS professionals’ ages ranged from 20 to 58 years, prevailing females, with 76.5% of the total, the majority were social workers (16.8%), psychologists (15.3%), nurses (14.8%) and nursing technicians (14.8%). The results showed precariousness in care associated with physical workload regard to high workload and low wages of the CAPS professionals' and, also, it was possible to observe a large involvement of professionals in care delivery, despite the difficulties encountered in services. It was found little knowledge in managers regarding the National Mental Health Policy having as causes of this reality the poor education and training of these professionals. The responses of professionals working in care reveals strong consistency with what is expected of a psychosocial care service. Points up as a thesis of this study that the psychiatric reform and mental health policy in Rio Grande do Norte is following a structural expansion process, but with precariousness of services from a still unprepared management to act in a psychosocial context.

Violência contra mulher: expressões da opressão às mulheres sob a égide do capitalismo e do patriarcado

This dissertation is the result of a research process that sought , from the speech of women in situations of violence , examine the difficulties these women to access the "network " of assistance to women victims of violence in the city of Natal/RN . Therefore , we made a critical analysis from the perspective of totality on the processual ontological " being a woman " and " be a man " , articulating the determinations of the subjective and objective dimensions in the lives of women at this juncture . Thus , also reflecting on the system of oppression of women through Capitalism / Patriarchate , articulated with other determinations of reality , as race / ethnicity , sexual orientation , generation and territoriality . Because of the oppression of women in all aspects of social life , the feminist movement led to the public domain claims against the oppressions of women and fight for Public Social Policies that aim to the particularities of women , among them, the social policies of coping violence against women . The speeches of the women interviewed show the contradictory aspect of work in women's lives . On the one hand , can become a means to financial independence ( with the possibility of exit from violent means). On the other , it can become "cause " of justification for the exercise of violence against women by their partners or former partners . Also show that despite legal advances , there is no effective implementation of policies aimed at women . This occurs as a result of capitalism / patriarchy and the context of neoliberal management of big capital . Thus , the feminist movement , as well as the social movement of the working class , must seek the empowerment of women through the struggle to end all forms of oppression , exploitation and domination among humans.

As múltiplas dimensões da garantia dos direitos do paciente idoso internado: o caso de uma instituição hospitalar pública no município de Natal/RN

In the context of current capitalist society, marked by the logic that restricts the human person their status as workforce, in order to generate profits, old age is often treated as an underprivileged life stage. This reality becomes more intense considering the sharp aging process that affects brazilian society is accompanied by the country's entry into a globalized world and tensioned by the dictates of capital. Thus, despite the increasing development of policies to strengthen the guarantee of elderly rights, it is necessary to establish effective strategies of these measures to ensure a higher quality of life to these subjects. Therefore, it is necessary to develop studies that problematize the issue of the elderly, which represent a growing portion of the population, and hence have more visible demands, including in health. With the increase in the elderly population in Brazil it is possible to realize the country is going through a demographic transition and epidemiological changes that contribute to change the landscape of health care of the elderly, especially the hospitalization. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the multiple aspects of ensuring the rights of elderly patients admitted to the State Hospital Dr. Ruy Pereira dos Santos (HRPS), located in Natal / RN, whose most patients are elderly. Specifically sought to understand the aging process, its social consequences and the vulnerability to which it is exposed, especially during the disease situation; understand the process of construction of the Brazilian public health and their actions for older people; learn the expressions of citizenship formation in Brazil with regard to policies for older people; and investigate the design of health professionals about the guarantee of the right of hospitalized elderly. Starting from an integrated coordinated theoretical and practical possibilities, a qualitative research and literature character, documentary and field was held. For this, there were four semi-structured interviews with health research locus Hospital professionals - namely, two social workers, a doctor and a nurse - as well as life stories with the hospitalized elderly patients, one in each deck the said Hospital, totaling three. The results pointed to the difficulty of health policy become effective as law and stressed one historical scenario violation of the rights of elderly hospitalized patients, which persists due to the precarious situation and the difficulty of effective implementation of the Unified Health System (SUS ) and other public policies to that end.

Assistência social ao idoso no município de Natal na proteção social básica: identificando demandas e desafios

Over the past decades, starting mainly in the 1960s, the number of elderly has grown in the country and an aging population is considered a remarkable global phenomenon. Given the speed of this process, this growth has produced different implications for the structure of the social, economic and cultural societies and, as such, constitutes new challenges for public policy, and particularly for the Brazilian social assistance policy. Considering the significant increase aging population in Natal and the challenges of social welfare policy, this research aims to identify and analyze the demands and challenges of Social Assistance Policy in the city of Natal / RN, in particular the access of the elderly to social protection basic in the Reference Centers of Social Assistance. This research uses a critical dialectical method, and the methodological procedures that guided the study: the bibliographical research, documentary and field as well as systematic observation. Some initial questions were important to guide this work: What are the demands that come to CRAS the elderly population? What are the answers to these demands by the Basic Social Protection? How this CRAS has implemented social protection responses to these demands as rights guarantee the elderly population? The services offered by CRAS meets user needs? To get the results of this research, bibliographic sources were used, documentary and observation for four (4) CRAS of different district areas of the city of Natal. The results of this research show that basic social protection is quite fragile, leaving part of the population at risk and social vulnerability still without attention due to several factors, including the reduced technical team and the impossibility of service to all neighborhoods referenced by CRAS in the respective zones, and 50% of elderly assisted arising from spontaneous demands.

Assistência social ao idoso no município de Natal na proteção social básica: identificando demandas e desafios

Over the past decades, starting mainly in the 1960s, the number of elderly has grown in the country and an aging population is considered a remarkable global phenomenon. Given the speed of this process, this growth has produced different implications for the structure of the social, economic and cultural societies and, as such, constitutes new challenges for public policy, and particularly for the Brazilian social assistance policy. Considering the significant increase aging population in Natal and the challenges of social welfare policy, this research aims to identify and analyze the demands and challenges of Social Assistance Policy in the city of Natal / RN, in particular the access of the elderly to social protection basic in the Reference Centers of Social Assistance. This research uses a critical dialectical method, and the methodological procedures that guided the study: the bibliographical research, documentary and field as well as systematic observation. Some initial questions were important to guide this work: What are the demands that come to CRAS the elderly population? What are the answers to these demands by the Basic Social Protection? How this CRAS has implemented social protection responses to these demands as rights guarantee the elderly population? The services offered by CRAS meets user needs? To get the results of this research, bibliographic sources were used, documentary and observation for four (4) CRAS of different district areas of the city of Natal. The results of this research show that basic social protection is quite fragile, leaving part of the population at risk and social vulnerability still without attention due to several factors, including the reduced technical team and the impossibility of service to all neighborhoods referenced by CRAS in the respective zones, and 50% of elderly assisted arising from spontaneous demands.

As escolas polivalentes do Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba (MG): sondagem vocacional no projeto desenvolvimentista civil-militar (1965–1976)

This study has as object eight state vocational schools located in Araguari, Araxá, Frutal, Ituiutaba, Monte Carmelo, Patos de Minas, Uberaba and Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais. The period analyzed comprises the years from 1965 to 1976, from the signature of the Agreement 512-11-610-042 beteween the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) and the American Agency for International Development (USAID), which started a series of other agreements, and actions ending up with the creation of the Expansion and Improvement of High Schools Program (Programa de Expansão e Melhoria do Ensino Médio - PREMEM) and, from this, the Vocational Schools. The upper limit of the study, 1976, was the year when these agreements, known as MEC/USAID agreements ceased. The Vocational Schools were characterized as vocation probing schools, directing the professional formation of the population in general, which would happen a posteriori, turning it shorter and more effective, since the labor market would demand, urgently, capable professionals for an expanding economy. The project of Vocational Schools had a national scope, and foresaw, for its unfolding, the complete substitution of State Schools for the new model, called “multi-curricula”. The theme Vocational schools was the object of my Master’s degree study, when I focused the State School Guiomar de Freitas Costa, in Uberlândia. That study raised questionings and concerns that resulted in the central problem of the thesis presented here: understanding the measure in which such schools integrated the country’s development project – mostly in the first half of the military rule – and to understand its structure, functionality and efficacyThe development of the study presented here, demanded the use of several sources: 1) specialized literature about the topics presented, i.e., the situation of national education in a temporal analysis, the political, economical and social context, research methodologies, the theory of human capital, vocational teaching, pedagogical trends and practices, agreements MEC-USAID and PREMEM; 2) national, state and county laws related to the discussion: laws of national education directives and basis, decrees and reports stating about the program of technical cooperation between Brazil and the United States of America, the Program of Expansion and Improvement of Teaching (PREMEM), formation of professors, establishment of Vocational Schools and educational planning; 3) documentation of school archives: books of minutes of Collegiate and of faculty and staff, registrar books with final scores, enrolment, visits of inspector, accounting books, punch clock records, student, professor and staff occurrences, inventory, class schedules, school year calendar, school rules, class reports, payment rolls, bills of sales, exchanged mail, personal documentation of professional personnel, documents of land acquisition, blueprints, manuals of PREMEM, didactic materials/resources used in classes, books available in the school library, structured evaluations for follow-up of school processes, pictures of events, texts prepared for special dates, and news from the official newspaper and, finally, 4) national and local press reports, especially from Folha de São Paulo, Correio de Araxá, Correio de Uberlândia and Lavoura e Comércio (Uberaba). The proposition of Vocational schools was conciliate theoretical and practical formation through an active education permeated by technological resources. The contact with knowledge and several practical activities under professional supervision, the student would identify the knowledge area that would interest him the most and his aptitude. This formation in primary school would make way for the vocation studies in high school, which became mandatory by the law 5.692/71, that reformed school education from the previous levels of elementary, middle high and high school. However, the multi-curricula proposal that would be spread to the other public schools in the country ended up succumbing to the model already established. From its ephemeral existence, maybe the Vocational Schools have not reached the more general goals in political, economic and social aspects; however, this study demonstrated that, for the people that, directly or indirectly, had contact with such schools, a legacy of vocational and quality teaching was made, so much so, that forty years after the end of that proposal, they are still remembered.

The Art of Change Movement: an anti-oppressive Social Work initiative

This article presents the Art of Change Movement (Movimiento Arte del Cambio), which has developed out of a project of the Association of Social Workers Without Boundaries (Asociación Trabajadores/as Sociales Sin Fronteras), with the collaboration of the Faculty of Social Work at Universidad de Granada and of education professionals, incorporating theatrical creativity and musical expression as pedagogical and social intervention tools. The aim is for the initiative to become another instrument in the fight against oppression. Through a laboratory for collective creativity involving students and professionals from social work and other social science disciplines, the movement seeks social transformation through artistic expression, based on political commitment and sustainable development that empowers participants.

Políticas de Protecção Social em Portugal

A crise financeira mundial e respectivas repercussões no sistema político, económico e social em Portugal, na Europa e no Mundo, constituiu o ponto de partida para a realização de um trabalho de análise sobre os seus impactos no sistema de protecção do Estado Social português na última década, sobretudo em duas prestações da Segurança Social: Rendimento Social de Inserção e as Prestações Familiares (Abono Família). Como objectivo estratégico procurou-se avaliar a orientação das políticas sociais públicas em Portugal, quanto à sua tendência para o reforço, ou para a desmontagem do Estado Social. Para este efeito, foi fundamental analisar as singularidades do Estado Social português, as prioridades políticas e sociais que têm vindo a ser definidas pelos governos constitucionais em matéria de protecção social nos últimos 10 anos e o impacto que as questões de ordem financeira exercem no comportamento da despesa social pública. Em termos metodológicos fizemos convergir a abordagem qualitativa na análise aos programas dos governos constitucionais e quantitativa, no tratamento dos dados estatísticos da Segurança Social. Da reflexão académica produzida, podemos afirmar que o Estado Social português atravessa hoje uma das mais profundas mutações da sua história em democracia, com a delapidação de direitos sociais arduamente conquistados na revolução de Abril.