The praxis of the psychologist in the context of social assistance

Abstract

The Social Assistance emerges as a field of interdisciplinary work performed mainly by multidisciplinary teams in which the role of Psychology stands. This article aims to reflect on the performance of the psychologist in the Single System of Social Assistance (SUAS), through a qualitative research, which was attended by nine psychologists who work in the CRAS (Center of reference for Social Assistance) and CREAS (Reference Center of expertise for Social Assistance) of two municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview, and its analysis guided by the analysis of content of Bardin (2004). Four categories of analysis emerged: performance of psychologist in social assistance, perception of professionals about users, perception of professionals about the work, crossings at work. The results point out that the practice of professionals is still permeated by the vision of the traditional clinic, hegemonic in the formation of psychologists. However, many of them reflect critically on their work, understanding that it is necessary to build spaces to think beyond and modify their practices.