O debate étnico-racial no desenho teórico-metodológico do trabalho social com famílias da política de assistência social: uma reflexão necessária

Abstract

This paper aims to present a critical analysis of the ethnic-racial debate that underlies the Social Welfare Policy, specifically regarding the theoretical-methodological design of Social Work with Families – TSF, based on a critical reflection of the legal frameworks and theoretical references concerning the SUAS, considering racial relations in Brazil. In this sense, the following problem is posed: in what way does the ethnic-racial theme appear or not in the theoretical-methodological design of the TSF developed by the Social Welfare Policy? In order to fulfill the general objective of presenting a critical analysis of the ethnic-racial transversality in the theoretical-methodological design of social work with families in the Social Welfare Policy, three specific objectives were established: 1. to analyze the references of the legal/normative and theoretical frameworks of the TSF in the SUAS considering racial relations in Brazil; 2. to examine how institutional racism affects the theoretical-methodological conception of the TSF in the Social Welfare Policy; 3. identify the manifestations of the ethnic-racial issue based on the discourse printed in the documents analyzed in this study. I addressed the concept of family in the context of the Social Welfare Policy, with priority attention to black families, as they constitute its largest audience, whose material and emotional conditions are defined by the social structure founded on racism. I revisited historical aspects that reaffirm how social welfare policy has, in its origins, the mark of benevolence, favor, guardianship, benevolence, specific and deprofessionalized actions, combined with the process of naturalizing poverty and the poor, beginning its institutionalization process in Brazil in the 1930s, being legitimized with the status of a non-contributory social protection public policy from the Federal Constitution of 1988. By revisiting the literature, I demonstrate the historical characteristics of its audience and how much of its offers are correlated with the structuring of racial relations in Brazil, considering the subjects unprotected by the State after slavery and the impacts of this historical lack of protection on the current living conditions of the black population. The research was developed based on the techniques of bibliographic review and documentary analysis, in the direction of the themes: racial relations in Brazil, black families and ethnic-racial debate in social work with families of the Social Welfare Policy. The main source of data collection is official documents from the former Ministry of Social Development, now the Ministry of Citizenship, specifically, minutes and resolutions from the National Council for Social Assistance, the “SUAS without racism” Campaign Handbook and the technical document “Ethical-political foundations and theoretical-methodological directions to strengthen Social Work with Families in the Social Assistance Policy. As a result of the research, I point to the shallow and restricted perspective of the ethnic-racial debate in the methodological design of Social Work with Families in the Social Assistance Policy, although there were significant normative references and indications for such incorporation. Therefore, the analysis of the guiding questions of this study confirms the impermeability of Social Assistance regarding the promotion of racial equality, as an expression of structural racism and the myth of racial democracy.