The professional insertion of social workers in Therapeutic Communities in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

In the Brazil, Therapeutic Communities (TCs) have been used to assist the population with disorders resulting from the use of alcohol and other drugs, and are recognized by public policies as part of the care and attention network. The social worker has been inserting himself professionally and occupational space in different and not very studied ways.

The present work had as its object of study the professional insertion of social workers in the TCs of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, with the general objective of analyzing the professional insertion of social workers in the TCs in the state of Santa Catarina regarding the articulation between the attributions institutional and professional skills.

A descriptive research was carried out using data collection techniques and the use of semi-structured interviews in conjunction with the use of participant observation, applied to seven professionals who are social workers in TCs of the state of Santa Catarina.

It was found that the professional insertion of social workers in the TCs has not been effective the articulation between institutional attributions and professional competences. Professionals often develop actions unrelated to Social Work competencies and attributions.

The professionals also do not indicate the incorporation of discussions on the work of TCs carried out in the academic and political space. Conditions resulting from the very organization and historical structuring of the TCs, their lack of knowledge regarding the work of the social worker, associated with the fragility of knowledge of the professionals themselves about the work of the TCs, their objectives and legislation.

There is a need to qualify the professional action of social workers in these spaces, in order to better understand and structure their work process, in the same way that there is a need for TC leaders to understand the real action of this professional.