Profissionais da educação e prevenção às violências contra crianças e adolescentes

Abstract

Violence against children and adolescents is a serious public health and human rights problem. The high rates of violence against children and adolescents in the country reinforce the importance of raising awareness of the issue and the urgent need to develop actions to prevent and combat violence. In this sense, the engagement of the child and adolescent protection network is essential to transform this reality. Thus, schools are an important space for developing actions to address this problem. The general objective of this research is to analyze strategies for preventing violence against children and adolescents in conjunction with education professionals. The specific objectives are: to understand the meanings of violence against children and adolescents for education professionals; and to analyze prevention products about violence against children and adolescents developed by education professionals. This is an action research with a qualitative approach and interventional methodology, with five workshops. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the responsible institution (CAAE: 39947120.0.0000.5013). Five workshops on preventing violence against children and adolescents were held with the participation of 33 education professionals at a public school in the city of Maceió/AL. The following instruments were used to collect data: two questionnaires, one on the socioeconomic profile and the other with questions about knowledge of the topic; Thematic Drawing-Story Procedure; field diaries; audio recordings of the workshops; photographs of the workshops and the professionals' productions. In the first workshop on welcoming and listening to the participants about violence, it was possible to identify, through the thematic drawings, that intrafamily and physical violence were the most represented. The second workshop, of an informative nature, sought to present information about violence against children and adolescents and the Protection Network available in the state of Alagoas, and the professionals shared the difficulty of knowing how to proceed in cases of violence, as well as reporting feelings of concern when notifying a competent agency. The third workshop was for discussion and management, through two fictitious case studies on violence. It was possible to see that the professionals were able to identify the type of violence, but felt unprepared to receive and refer the cases. In the fourth workshop, the professionals created projects to confront cases of violence and understood the role of the school as a protection network and the need for joint action by the entire network, as well as thinking about actions to bring family members and the region closer together to confront violence. Workshop five, planned as the closing of the cycle, had an open approach to provide education professionals with a greater opportunity to speak. This format revealed the significant lack of spaces for listening and dialogue in the school environment. The research demonstrated the importance of workshops, highlighting the school as a potential space for preventing violence, emphasizing the essential role of education professionals in addressing this issue. The workshops proved to be fundamental in demystifying concepts about violence and guiding educators on how to act in these situations. The insecurity of professionals in dealing with the issue was also evident, reflecting the lack of preparation, the suffering caused by this reality and the insufficient support received. Thus, it is concluded that, for a more effective approach, it is essential to redefine and articulate the responsibilities of all agents in the network – guardianship council, state, family, community, health and social assistance – ensuring an integrated approach in addressing violence.