Comunidades terapêuticas como espaço de educação não-formal: convicções e intencionalidades

Abstract

Models of care for people in the context of drug addiction have become a fertile field of study while also being a subject of ideological disputes. The present study aims to understand the educational practices applied in a therapeutic community located in the city of João PessoaPB, understanding them as non-formal education practices. This production characterized the research field by outlining the sociodemographic profile of the institution’s residents; it analyzed the drug addiction and education’s concepts present in the program developed by the entity and understood the intentionality that permeate the practices defined therein. Data collection for the scope of the research was obtained using a semi-structured interview model, conducted with the institution’s coordinators. The evaluation of the data collected through this instrument was carried out through the analysis of the discourse of the interviewees. The results of the analysis pointed out in the speech actions of the interviewees that there was a preconceived thought where it is believed that drug addiction is directly related to pathologies and behavioral dysregulations, as educational practices, defined as disciplinary actions that are part of the program, are responsible for the readjustment of these behaviors. Considering that historically modern society has acted in the construction of docile and useful bodies, using disciplinary institutions to regulate subjects considered dangerous, sick, and/or "abnormal”, similarities are perceived in this model of care for drug addicts to penal and disciplinary institutions.