Narrativas e personagens nos estudos brasileiros sobre o acolhimento institucional: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Institutional care is understood as a protective measure of a provisional and exceptional nature, adopted in the face of violation of rights and the impossibility of the child or adolescent remaining with their family. When researching the repercussions of changes in the institucional care policies in recent decades in the literature, there is a lack of studies that integrate knowledge on the subject, with few review studies. This research is an integrative review that aimed to map and analyze studies on the institutional care of children and adolescents in Brazil in the last 5 years, focusing on which themes (narratives) and who are the subjects (characters) of research in this area, as well as reflecting on the contributions of Psychology in this field. After defining the inclusion/exclusion criteria and using the PRISMA flowchart to select the studies, the sample consisted of 59 articles, based on a search in three databases (Scielo, BVS and Portal de Periódicos CAPES). The results, analyzed in two axes (narratives and characters), point to a lack of reports from the perspective of the foster care subjects themselves; to a pathologization of children and adolescents in institutional care, as well as the  institutional foster care itself; and to conflicts related to the roles played by professionals in this context. There is a multiplicity of research approaches, consistent with the complexity of the discussion on this topic. However, despite the advances made, there are permanences and tensions that point to a field that demands constant investigations.

Keywords: Institutional shelter; Children; Adolescent; Psychology.