On the razor's edge: between guaranteeing rights and social hygiene in policies to assist the population living in street.
Population living in street; Social assistance; Public policy.
The population living in street (PSR) represents one of the most perverse expressions of the social issue, and is a phenomenon that intertwines economic, political and social factors. It is a segment historically (in) viewed by the Brazilian State, which, since its political organization in the mid-2000s, has achieved legal advances in terms of guaranteeing its rights. These rights are materialized, albeit initially and with weaknesses, mainly through the Social Assistance policy. Considering that such a policy goes in a moviment against the current neoliberal offensive, it is important to analyze how a social court policy aimed at the most marginalized in the country has been operating. Thus, the present work sought to analyze the social assistance assistance to the PSR and the access of this segment to social policies in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This research was anchored in dialectical historical materialism and was organized based on two main studies: conducting conversations with professionals from the social assistance services for PSR and interviews with members of the National Movement of Street People in Rio Grande do Norte (MNPR / RN). After transcribing the audios, content analysis was performed, and the data were organized into six categories: ways of life and connection with the street; o SUAS and the people living in street; criminalization and social hygiene of the PSR; PSR service through the public policy network; political organization of the PSR; impacts of the new Brazilian conjuncture for SUAS and PSR. It is hoped that the theoretical elements constructed in this research can contribute to subsidize technical intervention in social policies aimed at serving the public in question. In general, it was possible to conclude that, despite the importance of creating services for PSR in SUAS, it is necessary to advance in the design and implementation of these social policies, moving away from the hygienism and criminalization that mark the performance of the State with this public towards practices that actually recognize and guarantee rights.