Sobre conhecer e (co)construir: mútuas ressonâncias entre o CRAS e suas usuárias

Abstract

This research is about the understanding that participants of the Group of Women offered by the Service of Coexistence and Strengthening Bonds of a Reference Center for Social Assistance (CRAS) in the interior of Minas Gerais have about this Basic Social Protection service. It is a qualitative research and for the construction of its data, a questionnaire was used to characterize the participants and their relationship with the institution and three Focus Group meetings were held in order to investigate the users' knowledge about the activities developed at CRAS , the institution's target audience, eventual social assistance and income transfer benefits and the place of CRAS in the lives of its users. Twelve women participated in the research, most of them elderly, widows, retirees or pensioners who have been in the service for at least one year, with the oldest user 11 years of participation in the institution. It was possible to perceive that the women sought the service in search of a place of support, especially emotional, due to situations of psychological distress, often involving the loss of family members and found there their place of welcome and also of learning about topics related to the their daily lives. CRAS is identified by them as a reference point of support in problem solving, being recommended by users to their friends, family, neighbors and other members of their social network in the face of any adversity that may affect them. The discourse of the research participants suggests that this CRAS is a facilitator in the process of empowerment of families and subjects users of the institution and seems to be an important device for the construction of intersectoriality in the municipality, triggering sector services to fully meet the demands of its public.