Group process: reflections on a practice with youngsters in mental health

Abstract

In this work reflections are presented
about a practice that was done with youngsters in
Mental Health. It summarizes part of a research that
was done for a master dissertation in Psychology. I
used, as a theoretical reference, authors from the
Social Psychology area, who work with a dialectic
concept of men and group, mainly the studies of
Ignácio Martín-Baró and Silvia Lane. Those authors
advocate that the group is a process that is filled
with contradictions, which reflect the society where
their members are inserted. I also intended to reflect
about that practice in the context of the
transformations that are being done under the
Psychiatric Reform. Regarding the methodological
aspects, I made use of the qualitative research and,
as a tool for data collection, of the participative
observation. The empiric data was grouped and
analyzed under the light of the theoretical categories
signaled by the cited authors. The research results
pointed to the importance of reflecting about the
social practices that are conducted at different social
contexts, trying to adapt them to the population’s
reality, besides the need of spaces of social
interaction opened to the dialog and to the
construction of affective connections, which are
important for the strengthening of those youngsters
identity. In the context of mental health, I also consider
important to approach the interaction with other
social segments, allowing the construction of an interdiscipline
practice, which permit the multiplication
of the information, working over the pre-concepts
and therefore reducing the social exclusion.