A história de jovens com experiência de acolhimento institucional: tendo como pano de fundo o conceito de natalidade em Arendt.

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to understand the story of three young men with an experience of institutional refuge. Its background is Hannah Arendt’s concept of natality. This research is of a phenomenological, qualitative and interventive nature, which parts from the young people’s narrative to understand their experiences. The analysis of the narratives revealed that some fundamental conditions for the young people to begin something new were co-authorship and an educational formation which made it possible for them to be marked by and presented to the world in a different way. The narratives revealed the importance of the institution Home as coauthor in the history of these young people. Last but not least, the narrators offer trails about the experiences they made in the institution and which were decisive for them to turn into the people they are now: the presence of professionals who do not only commit themselves to the people sheltered, but also to their families; the respect and consideration for the individual needs of every sheltered person and family member; the importance of the presence of confiding looks opposed to judgmental and punishing looks; the relevance of the substitution of constant dialogue in the place of violence and punishment, and, finally, the certainty that all adults involved in the care of the sheltered are co-authors of their story. This co-authorship makes new ways of relationships with others, with the world and with oneself possible.