Desafios contemporâneos para o projeto ético-político do Serviço Social: cotidiano profissional dos assistentes sociais em uma grande emergência

Abstract

The present work intends to analyze the social worker practice in the Health policy, taking as principle the current social work ethical-political project. In the elaboration of this study, we consider two crucial aspects: professional training and working conditions of the social workers. Even though the professional project is permanently struck by the strain from the political and economical spheres, when the social workers adopt this project in their practice, it becomes an alternative to concretize a critical view of the contradictions which underlie the social relations in the capitalist society. Thereby, we seek to identify how the social worker professional training and their working conditions are facilitating a practice guided by the professional project. The health care field was decisive to the analysis that we made because it has been historically a field of work occupied by the social workers, although the results that we got can be seen in others areas. The professional training has shown significant frailties that will undermine strategy creations of professional interventions guided by the professional project principles. Added to this, the lack of investments in continuous training has demonstrated that the social workers intervention is influenced by non-planned actions which have as goal palliative measures that will not help to change reality. The precarious employments, as well as its working conditions, and the instability and staff turnover, show us the complicated bond between the professional and the institution which harms the quality of the provided services.