Institutional shelter to protect adolescent victims of domestic violence: theory or practice?

Diene Monique Carlos,Eliana Mendes De Souza Teixeira Roque,Telma Sanchez Vendruscolo,Maria Das Graças Carvalho Ferriani,Marta Angelica Iossi Silva

doi:10.1590/s0104-11692013000200015

Diene Monique Carlos, Eliana Mendes De Souza Teixeira Roque + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-11692013000200015

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Abstract

To understand and analyze, from the perspective of adolescent victims of domestic violence who were cared for in an institution in Campinas-SP, the protective factors to which they are submitted and / or have access. This was qualitative research, with data collection occurring through focus groups with 17 adolescents, and semistructured interviews with seven of them; the data analysis was based on content analysis, using a thematic modality. Two themes emerged, entitled Four Walls and Trust. We discuss the context of institutional care, that despite the efforts made contemporaneously, still maintains an authoritarian environment; the importance of the bond and trust established with some employees, acting as protective factors for the adolescents and the protective aspect of religiosity. It is understood that these considerations should be valued and reinforced through the healthcare services provided to children and adolescents, as they contribute to the promotion of the physical and mental health of this population.

Highlights

Violence is diffused throughout the social fabric, configuring itself as a serious public health problem
The work was developed in a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), co-financed by the Prefecture of the Municipality of Campinas; it presents itself as a service for institutional care of children and adolescents referred by the Guardian Council or Court of Childhood and Youth, inserted into the Secretary of Citizenship, Assistance and Social Inclusion, in the area of Special Social Protection of High Complexity
The convenience sample was composed from the following principles of inclusion: (i) consider as adolescents those 12 to 18 years, as the age range considered by ECA, who were victims of domestic violence and were receiving institutional care, (ii) consider only the adolescents who were allowed to participate in the survey by the legal guardian of the institution and who accepted to participate by signing the terms of free and informed consent form (TFIC)

Summary

Introduction

Violence is diffused throughout the social fabric, configuring itself as a serious public health problem. At the specific period of growth and development in which they find themselves, become the main victims of this problem, and the highest rates of violence against this population occur within households[1]. Domestic violence against children and adolescents occurs in intergenerational and hierarchical relationships These individuals relate to them by means of aggressive acts for resolving conflicts, and as an educational strategy; it includes the lack of basic care for their children. Because it occurs in the private sphere, it can be extended for a long period, and its identification can be made difficult[2]. An important aspect of the ECA is the change of conceptions concerning public intervention with children and adolescents; prior to their implementation, the institutionalization of children and adolescent victims of violence was one of the main pillars of the policies geared to this population[3]

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