A vida tecida em contradições: itinerários terapêuticos de mulheres em situação de rua a partir de uma etnografia multilocal

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation was to identify and understand the therapeutic itineraries of homeless women in Juiz de Fora city (MG). An attempt was made to answer some central questions, namely: How do homeless women relate to health and health services? What are the effects of unequal gender relations prevailing in capitalist and patriarchal society on the health of these women? To this end, we opted to carry out a qualitative study, using multilocal ethnography as methodological strategy, and as techniques for data construction, participant observation, as well as the field diary. Two homeless women were followed in their search for health care, and the observations also took place in the “Casa de Passagem” for women, in the places where the “Consultório na Rua” circulated, and in the Homeless Poulation Forum, totaling 16 months of immersion in the field. Based on field experiences, it was possible to identify that two elements, predominantly, manage and organize the Therapeutic Itineraries of women participating in this research: gender, which implies forms of relationship, needs and histories marked by meaning, roles and positions of women in society; and the crossing of institutions present daily in the lives of these women, such as the Health and Social Assistance services, or the police apparatus and the religion that take such forms. It was also noticed that understanding the therapeutic itineraries of homeless women revealed itself as a way of listening and discovering their itineraries through life, requiring a broad, dialectical and historical understand of the notion of “health”. For these women, the therapeutic itineraries refer not only to the practices and paths of meaning and production of care, but, mainly, to their own existence and possibilities of life production.