Cuidado infantil e gênero na perspectiva de famílias que frequentam o Programa de Saúde Mental Infantil Brincando em Família.

Abstract

This work is part of the incipient discussion about families, policies and practices of Child Mental Health, in dialogue with notes already present in the literature on the importance of including and qualifying family care. Our general objective is to understand how families who attend a Child Mental Health Program take care of their children. And, as specific objectives to analyze how child care is built in the daily lives of families; explore possible differences in child care related to family dynamics; explore how families understand complaints about children attending a Child Mental Health Program (PBF); explore how families understand the care offered in the program in question. The theoretical foundation on which we are anchored is a general theory of care articulated with discussions on mental health, gender and devices. The study was carried out during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Child Mental Health Program Brincando em Família, a permanent space for teaching, research and extension linked to the Federal University of Bahia, which seeks to work with children and their families, building dialogues with other services aimed at children. The participants were people who had attended the program since before the pandemic moment. In total, six families were interviewed, where, in some cases, there was a male presence. Among the participants, self-declared black or brown people predominate, with low education, precarious financial situation, residents of peripheral neighborhoods, exposed to situations of violence. We found the predominance of the role of women as caregivers, which coexist with frequent reports of not intending to have children, before the pregnancy happens. We argue that, for the participants, child care is closely related to a “person project” where it is central that the child is “obedient so it doesn't be bad person”. Several actions are directed in this way, from basic care and relational care -which involve education, correction of behaviors -, and also the relationship with public policies, with emphasis on health and education services. About attending a Child Mental Health service, it was identified that often when the family cannot get their child to show the expected obedience, and also when they receive complaints in the school and family environment, there is a demand for mental health services. There are a variety of ways to understand the complaints, but the point of congruence, continues to be in this axis, of trying to adjust children's behavior to what is expected, according to gender scripts and concerns about the future. The relationship with the program is important for these families – who are predominantly women marked by the maternal device –, who feel welcomed and understood. And, in this sense, some narratives of the families were heard, as they had contact with the program, pointing out problematizations of pathologizing views on children.