Medidas socioeducativas em meio aberto : desafios e perspectivas da proteção social especial no município de Itaporanga-PB

Abstract

This dissertation, entitled "Open-Environment Socio-Educational Measures: Challenges and Perspectives of Special Social Protection in the Municipality of Itaporanga-PB," aims to understand the dynamics of the implementation of open-environment socio-educational measures within the Specialized Social Assistance Reference Center (CREAS) of the municipality of Itaporanga-PB. The qualitative research combined document analysis of records and technical reports with semi-structured interviews with CREAS technicians and adolescents serving or having completed socio-educational measures. Data interpretation was based on the legal frameworks of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) and the National System of Socio-Educational Care (SINASE), as well as critical references from Social Work. The results show that, although the CREAS of Itaporanga-PB plays an essential role in the accountability and monitoring of adolescents, the service faces structural limitations, such as the absence of a dedicated team, an overload of demands, and a scarcity of material and methodological resources. Conversely, there have been notable advances in the areas of reception, qualified listening, and engagement with families—elements recognized by the adolescents themselves as fundamental to their processes of change. The research concludes that the effective implementation of socio-educational measures in open settings depends on the consolidation of the social protection network, professional development, and increased public co-financing, in order to ensure that socio-education becomes a space for emancipation, citizenship, and the rebuilding of bonds, and not merely an extension of penal control.