FURTADO, Monalisa Pereira; MAGALHAES, Celina Maria Colino; JUNIOR DA SILVA, Agnes de Maria    SANTOS, Juliana de Oliveira dos. Support system of sheltered children: the child's perspective. []. , 29, 1, pp.9-20. ISSN 0104-3269.

The first development of a support network tends to occur in the family context. Later, the networks expand to extended family, friends, and teachers. For children who experience institutional care, the development of bonds within the institution is added. The study aimed at identifying the support system of children in institutional sheltering. Eight children with ages between four and ten took part in the study. it was made the use of questionnaires for sociodemographic characterization and also the Five Fields Map. The main results were: 1) The figure of the genitor appears at the highest level of the map for all children; 2) The extended family is widely represented; 3) The members of the institution were represented in a positive way; 4) The majority of the children indicated negative relationships with schoolmates. It is concluded that it is imperative to strengthen the social support system of sheltered children in order to facilitate the process of family reintegration, in addition to easing the sheltering period.

: child institutionalized; social interaction; institutionalization.

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