Abstract

AVOGLIA, Hilda Rosa Capelão; SILVA, Andreia Maria da  and  MATTOS, Pammela Makarowits de. Social educator: Image and relationship with children in shelter institutions. Rev. Mal-Estar Subj [online]. 2012, vol.12, n.1-2, pp. 265-292. ISSN 1518-6148.

This study aimed to identify the image that social educators have about children in shelter institutions and relate it to their proposed actions for institutional coexistence spaces. The research took place at a shelter institution (Diadema / SP) that works with children victims of negligence and / or abuse. The techniques used were Thematic Drawing Test and Observation. The technique was applied individually in six educators who worked for the institution. The observation was conducted in moments when only one educator was accompanying the group of children in routine activities in the shelter. The data obtained with each educator were analyzed separately and subsequently incorporated in the observation registries. In continuity, a conclusive synthesis was elaborated for each one of the study participants. The results show a lack of vital energy and emotional contact with the children. There is a predominance of educators with an image of the shelter as a temporary place, inappropriate for a child's development, and not committed to the task of children's education. The institutional environment seems to favor the emergency of insecurity feelings, inadequacy and lack of positive prospects for the future of the sheltered children. These feelings create anxiety, from which they try to protect themselves using rationalization and excessive control over the children's behavior, thus preventing a more favorable interaction. The educators, in their relationship with the children, configure themselves in models of identification that, if well developed, could point to a more creative, educational and healthy institution.

Keywords : Social educator; shelter; foster care; thematic drawing; observation.

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