CAMINHOS E DESCAMINHOS DO USUÁRIO DA POLÍTICA DA ASSISTÊNCIA NO EXERCÍCIO DO CONTROLE SOCIAL: UM ESTUDO REALIZADO EM MUNICÍPIOS DE GESTÃO PLENA DO SUAS NO ESTADO DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Abstract

This paper focuses user participation in the social control of the Sistema Único de Assistência Social (Integrated Social Welfare System SUAS) aiming to reflect on the limitations and possibilities of this practice to care for the population. The choice of topic for a Master s thesis is justified by the complex context of social welfare policies in Brazil, the recent SUAS creation (2005) and its emphasis on the social control of the user, and the limited scientific research aimed specifically at Social Welfare Program users. The central issue on which this study is based is: How does the user perceive and control the services offered by SUAS in counties with full program management in the state of Rio Grande do Sul? The scientific investigation performed followed a qualitative approach within a dialectical-critical focus and seeks support in Antônio Gramsci s theoretical concepts to look into subordinate classes. From a systematization and analysis of the answers given by SUAS users, two tendencies of social control that act simultaneously and are followed by the surveyed subjects are pointed out. On one hand, there is the dominant hegemony strengthening, which tends to a depoliticized control that ultimately reduces the demand for social welfare service benefits; on the other hand, there is the faint appearance of a counter-hegemony which resists an authoritarian control. Therefore, despite the fact that the user is still to be found at a disadvantage in relation to SUAS management, there are elements that favor a greater participation in the spaces to be occupied and decisive processes, signaling towards democratic emancipation possibilities.