Residential care in Portugal: an analysis of the content of the media about the caregivers, in the last 5 years
Creators: name: Babo, Francisca
name: Santos, Beatriz
name: Mota, Catarina Pinheiro
name: Matos, Paula Mena
name: Carvalho, Helena M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021

description: <strong>Abstract</strong> The social media have a high impact on society, due to their role in providing relevant information and raising citizens' awareness of social concerns. In Portugal, the representation of residential care in the media seems to reflect and project relevant social images, susceptible to different levels of analysis. In the Portuguese context, residential care for children and young people takes a special relevance as a measure of protection and promotion, encompassing a significant number of children and young people, compared to other European countries (Browne, Hamilton-Giachritsis, Johnson, &amp; Ostergren, 2006). According to the latest data provided by CASA 2019 report (ISSIP, 2020), there were 6855 children and young people living in residential care in Portugal in 2019. The recently revised laws for the protection of children and young people at risk in the Portuguese system have defined the legal regime for social intervention by the State and the community in order to avoid dangerous situations and to create promotion and protection measures, in an integrated approach to the rights of children and young people, in order to guarantee their well-being and integral development. Additionally, the most recent legal framework on residential care highlights the role of caregivers in providing the development <em>of afective secure and stable bounds</em> (DL 164/2019, article 3). The literature has been highlighting the importance of caregivers for the biopsychosocial development of children and young people integrated in residential care (Fernandes &amp; Oliveira-Monteiro, 2016; Mota &amp; Matos, 2010). The quality of relationship with caregivers, as well as, assertiveness, empathy and availability, can be considered a protective factor, which may allow greater emotional and affective organization (Davis, 2003; Mota &amp; Matos, 2008). This study aims to identify the main themes addressed by the media about residential care in Portugal and, specifically, to analyze the perceptions served by the media about caregivers, in the last 5 years. The analyses intend to discuss media treatment about the role of caregivers who work in residential care context - a relevant issue in the Portuguese context – and its possible impact. In this sense, a content analysis of a wide field of news underlying the most referenced newspapers in the Portuguese context was carried out. In order to guarantee the scientific rigor of the investigation, the phases of the technique proposed by Bardin (2011) were used, specifically, pre-analysis, exploration of the material and treatment of results, inferences and interpretations. Four general categories were highlighted that reflect the main themes addressed by the media about residential care in Portugal, specifically, residential care versus family care, characteristics of residential care, legislation and caregivers in residential care. Through the analysis of the general categories, 4 specific categories related to caregivers were also found, namely, the need for training, mistreatment, challenges of being a caregiver and characteristics of care. The news categories stress the importance of family care becoming a primary measure for children and young people at risk, since, currently, there is a primacy of residential care over family care. It is also emphasized the importance of implementing personal development training, capable of training caregivers and offering more appropriate responses to the biopsychosocial needs of children and young people. There is a contradictory view inherent to the role of care in residential homes, where, on the one hand, the media highlights the importance of the existence of affection between caregivers and child, and, on the other, it warns of the fact that these professionals do not replace families, which seems to be a paradox between what is needed and what is allowed for caregivers.
description: Poster presented at XVI European Scientific Association on Residential &amp; Family Care for Children and Adolescents Conference (EUSARF). This work was funded by Portuguese National funds FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).