Os usuários da política de assistência social: um estudo a partir da realidade das classes subalternas | The users of the social assistance policy: a study from the reality of the subaltern classes

Abstract

The article presents the results of an already completed research that had as object of study the users of social assistance policy in Juiz de Fora, seeking to overcome the characterization or profile presented by social policies. The methodology used was qualitative, consisting of a bibliographical study and field research in the Reference Centers of Social Assistance. Sixty participant observations and 41 in - depth interviews were conducted with the purpose of knowing the central elements present in the subjects' daily lives, such as education, working conditions, understanding of politics, and the meaning of the same in their lives. Among the analyzed aspects, we emphasize that the public user is composed mostly of women, with low schooling. The main reasons related to the interruption of the studies were teenage pregnancy, the need to be incorporated into the labor market, even if informally, being irreconcilable with the studies. Among the findings of the research is the change of the "audience of the assisted" incorporating workers who are in the informal labor market, with "flexible, intermittent and precarious" days. We point out that even with the advances obtained from the legislation that elevates social assistance to the level of public policy, most users interviewed do not understand it as a right.