Adolescentes em situação de acolhimento institucional em João Pessoa, PB : proteção ou privação de direitos?

Abstract

The institutional care of children and adolescents is an exceptional and temporary protection measure provided for by the Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA), to be applied in cases of rights violations experienced by children and adolescents when the possibilities of maintaining the victims within their natural or extended family are exhausted. In this context, children and adolescents who are victims of such situations of violence or serious neglect are inevitably torn from their homes and deprived of the right to enjoy family and community life, and this is a reality that is completely contrary to the doctrine of full protection, implemented by the ECA. This research was motivated by the scarcity of studies related to the female population in care situations. Therefore, as a guardian counselor and noting a high number of girls who were sheltered by the Guardianship Council of the southern region in João Pessoa/PB, a gap was identified that needed to be filled. To this end, we sought to conduct interviews with adolescent girls and, through their perceptions, answer the central problem of this research: IS INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT A PROTECTIVE OR PUNISHING MEASURE? With this in mind, we set the general objective of the research to analyze the narratives of female adolescents in institutional care about their experiences in the city of João Pessoa/PB. And, in order to achieve the general objective, we used the following specific objectives: To identify the reasons and circumstances for the application of protection, as well as the impacts that this separation from family life causes in the lives of the adolescents involved in the research; To understand how adolescents subjected to institutional care perceive this measure based on the experiences lived within the institution and the treatment given to them; and to outline the socioeconomic profile of the adolescents considering social markers of difference. The research was conducted in three foster care institutions in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba, namely the Fundação São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina, the Casa de Passagem Diagnóstica and the Casa Lar Manaíra, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a group of 5 foster adolescents. The analyses extracted from the research, through their stories and memories, revealed that the experiences lived by the adolescents, confront us with a common truth among them: the family, which despite being a space of violence and conflict, continues to be a bond that they wish to restore. The negative concepts constructed around institutional foster care are responsible for the fears experienced by the participating adolescents when they arrive at the foster care institution, and this highlights the need to promote a cultural change that allows access to information on how the system for guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents – SGD, its protection agencies and care services works. Effective education in human rights, as a mandatory part of the school curriculum, is necessary for this change in the understanding of the means of protection, providing peace of mind to the adolescents under guardianship, and enabling adjustments for effective, exceptional and temporary action, as provided for in the legislation.