Towards a history of psychology in social assistance: narratives of psychologists who worked in the initial years of SUAS implementation

• Grant number: 24/06712-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Social Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Mariana Prioli Cordeiro
• Grantee: Mariana Prioli Cordeiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/17877-7 - Histories of psychology in social services: contributions of audiovisual resources to scientific dissemination, BP.TT

Abstract

Since 2005, with the implementation of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS), social assistance has become an important field of employment for psychology. The massive entry of the category into this public policy is mainly because the Basic Operational Standard for Human Resources in the SUAS (NOB-RH/SUAS) provides for the hiring of psychologists to work at all levels of protection in the social assistance policy. The large contingent of psychologists approved in public tenders and selection processes to work in the newly created SUAS services arrived knowing little about this field of work. Furthermore, they arrived at a time when there had already been previous knowledge produced, but novelty prevailed and there was a need to invent ways of applying what the new regulations proposed. This research aims to discuss psychology's contributions to the consolidation of social assistance as a public policy in Brazil, based on the memories and narratives of professionals hired in the early years of SUAS. Among other things, we will try to discuss the following questions: what were the expectations (of managers and teammates) about the work of psychology in the SUAS? What were the difficulties and strengths of working in this area? What motivated these psychologists to work in social assistance services? How were the professionals hired to work in the early days of SUAS trained? Both the analysis and the interviews that will result in these narratives will be based on reflections proposed by Oral History and constructionist approaches. The research proposed in this project continues a previous study (Fapesp Process No. 2021/02530-3) and is, therefore, part of a research programme into the history of psychology in social assistance. It is expected that by constructing historical narratives about psychology in this field, this research programme will contribute to critical reflection about what we have done and what we want to do in it. (AU)