RESILIÊNCIA EM JOVENS ABRIGADOS.

Abstract

Shelters offer protection for children and adolescents that are relived from family care. These institutions are legally authorized to foster the children and adolescents that have been placed in their care. Typically, adolescents experienced traumatic experiences, be it through the separation from their family, the loss of their parents, having suffered abuse and the resulting lack of affective support. Receptive attitudes and affective support can help overcome the psychological and physical sequels of the traumatic experiences. The shelter must be able to work with the losses due to abandon, ruptures, violence and with the perspective that the stay in the safe environment is only temporary. This study focuses the ways the adolescent develops to overcome trauma. A Grounded Theory analysis was chosen to examine lived experience from the point of view of the youths. The data were gathered in two institutions in the state of Goiás. During the analysis it became clear that the reported experiences reflected a pathway, constructed by each participant that could be described through five categories, starting with his or removal from his or her environment, his or her arrival at the shelter and his or her perspective to leave. The pathway includes: removal from an intolerable environment (with the subcategories Family and Youth); Protection and Resources (with the subcategories Protection against aggression, drugs and games; Material resources; Reception, welcoming and entertainment; Mobilization of religious sentiment; Sampling better life); Opportunities for development (with the subcategories, The value of studying; Involvement in sports, culture and arts); Affective bonds (with as subcategories, Influence from the foster family; Construction of a bond with the school or the employees; Construction of affective ties; Maintaining the ties with the family of origin) and Possibilities to surmount (with the subcategories, Daily activities promote maturity; Affective context promotes reevaluation of family ties; Shelter provides a new perspective). These categories are superposed and interlinked at various moments. The analysis of the data shows that the adolescents value the shelter and consider it a welcoming environment, that can provide new possibilities and that the institutions provide ways to catch up with their families. The protection and resources offered, the opportunities for development and the affective bonds that are offered to the adolescent in the institutional contexts where this study was done, can be seen as many protective factors for the development of placed adolescents.