Goals

Mapping the perceptions of state officials, social workers, and citizens—whether they utilize social welfare services or not—regarding the eligibility for social support among those who access these services. This entails evaluating various dimensions of deservingness in social policies (e.g., Carin Criteria: Control; Need; Identity; Attitude; Reciprocity).

Identifying whether individual perceptions among target audiences regarding deservingness translate into differentiated and distinguishing practices for individuals accessing social welfare benefits from the Social Security System, with a particular focus on the field of Social Work.

Analyzing the dynamic between the State and its citizens within the current social framework.

Part 1 – Cogovernance policies in Portuguese municipalities

• To understand the cogovernance policies implemented by Portuguese municipalities;
• To outline the profile of community cogovernance agents at the local level;
• To identify constraints and potentials of different power-sharing strategies at the local level in consolidating a democratic society.

Part 2 – Collaborative strategies in local development cogovernance in AML

• To understand and comprehend specific cases of micro-strategies of community cogovernance at the local level;
• To understand the role of different participants in the local development movement in AML;
• To analyze the effect of collaborative trajectories of the local development movement in AML on the democratic consolidation process of Portuguese society;
• To propose recommendations for transforming public policies on local and community development.

Methodology

Exploratory; Comparative; Mixed; Applied (sociocritical epistemology)

Part 1 – Cogovernance policies in Portuguese municipalities

1. Questionnaire survey addressed to all Portuguese municipalities
2. Semi-directed distance interviews (online) with an intentional analysis universe of local government leaders (Municipal Councils, Parish Councils, representatives of the local development movement, citizens involved in cogovernance strategies) in at least 2 local government bodies and 2 representatives of civil society in each NUT II.

Part 2 - Collaborative strategies in local development cogovernance in AML (Comparative case study of different experiences)

1 Ethnography of community cogovernance:

1. Direct observation for 12 months of concrete microcontexts of community cogovernance, using an observation grid and writing a field diary for at least 2 specific cases of collaborative civic participation strategies in decision-making processes at the local development policy level in the city of Lisbon (e.g., Observation of the dynamics of Lisbon Community Groups; community security groups; local advisory councils, citizen councils, etc.)
2. Focus Group with agents involved in cogovernance strategies in AML (at least 5 specific cases of a collaborative community cogovernance project in the AML councils)

SPSS and MAXQDA software will be used as tools to aid in the analysis and interpretation of results.

The selected material will undergo a process of statistical and thematic categorical analysis (Strauss, 1987) and local interpretation: synopsis, history, message, and transversal and vertical interpretation (Soulet, 2003; Maxwell, 2005; Monteiro, 2005; Policarpo, 2011; Monteiro, Ramalho et al, 2013; Ramalho, 2020).

Data validity is ensured through theoretical triangulation, data collection in diverse territories, institutions, and groups, and the use of different data collection and analysis techniques.

Part 3 - Joint final report of lines 1 and 2: Results, Products, and Guide to Practices and Recommendations.

Objectives of the project

Examining the Harm Reduction Model, considering New Dynamics and Trends Associated with Drug Use, Aimed at Identifying Challenges for Social Work Intervention.

Methodology

Qualitative

General objective: To identify the social markers present in Brazilian women incarcerated in Brazil and Portugal, based on a study of the Tires (Lisbon) and CRF (Belém) prisons, in the period 2021-2022, with a view to creating social indicators for defining public policies.
The specific objectives: To comparatively analyse the social markers of Brazilian women deprived of their liberty in Brazil and Portugal, considering the period 2022-2023. - To highlight the main demands of women prisoners in E.P Tires and E.P CRF from the point of view of women in deprivation of liberty. - To analyse and formulate a table of social indicators on the incarceration of Brazilian women in the two countries, considering social markers and the demands pointed out by women in deprivation of liberty.  

Methodology

Qualitative methodology: literature review; collection of official statistical data; semi-directive interviews with Brazilian women sentenced to prison (EP de Tires).

Schedule:

Start date - 2023/2024
Completion date - 2025
Duration - 1 to 2 years

Objectives of the project

Examining the professional and cultural competencies of social work in safeguarding the rights of transgender individuals.

Methodology

Qualitative (interviews)

Objectives of the project

To explore, through narrative-biographical approaches, the socio-professional experiences and trajectories of transgender individuals residing in Portugal, with the aim of identifying the inequalities and professional barriers that oppress them, as well as the individual and collective strategies of trans people and social workers in promoting their access to employment and labor well-being.

Methodology

Qualitative (biographical method)

Objectives of the project

1. Identify communities' perceptions of the role of social economy entities in combating poverty and social exclusion;
2. List the challenges to operationalizing the mission of these entities with regard to financing lines and types, to combat poverty and social exclusion, and their duration.

Methodology

Exploratory study; comparative, applied with mixed methods, lasting 24 months, complying with the ethical requirements of CLISSIS, having at its core the understanding that "practice demands a reexamination of theory and theory serves to criticize practice in depth, serves to question and correct practice" (Marcondes and Toledo, 2014:172), that is, that theory and practice must influence each other, specifically in intervention in Social Service, attending to all social change and the complexity of social phenomena, promoting reflected Social Service practices, in the search for understanding social phenomena and in the search for the construction of a theory of and in action.

In quantitative methods we use questionnaire surveys, "Considered by many authors to be a fundamental instrument in the knowledge production process" (Santos and Henriques, 2021: 7) its main advantages are the use of representativeness of the interviewees, which "is never absolute, is always limited by a margin of error and only makes sense in relation to a certain type of questions, those I that make sense for the entire population in question" (cf. Quivy and Campenhoudt, 1992: 190-191) and the possibility of quantifying a diversity of data and correlating them".

The questionnaire survey will be directed to an intentional universe of social intervention technicians from entities in the social and solidarity sector, identified as a sample in this exploratory study. SPSS software will be used as a tool to assist in the process of data analysis and interpretation. The survey will be constructed on the · Google Forms platform and will be published online.

Within the qualitative framework, two different research data collection techniques are used, namely documentary analysis and interviews, with the aim of interconnecting perceptions and dimensions as concretely as possible and constructing multidimensional conclusions.
The semi-directive interviews carried out remotely (online) are detailed with an intentional analysis universe of at least 50 managers of entities in the social economy sector.

The data collection instruments will be built from scratch by the research team, in accordance with · the literature and analytical dimensions of the study.

This project is part of a research for action perspective, given that it aims not only to collect data but also to issue guidelines for social policies, in particular, and public policies in general.

Final report

Timetable:

Start Date: May 2025
Completion
Date: May 2027
Duration: 2 years