A instrumentalidade do Serviço Social no âmbito da assistência estudantil na Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS) - Campus São Cristóvão

Abstract

This study analyzes the terms under which the instrumentality of Social Work has been constituted within Student Assistance at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão campus, with the aim of apprehending the particularities of the professional instrumentality of social workers in this socio-occupational space. To this end, it seeks to analyze the professional work developed in Student Assistance, considering how socio-professional intervention has been carried out in response to institutional demands; to identify the demands that require the intervention of social workers in this field; and to understand the extent to which the technical-operational instruments used are articulated with professional instrumentality grounded in the Ethical-Political Project of Social Work. The research adopts the historical-dialectical materialist method, as it understands that the apprehension of social reality occurs through successive approximations to totality, enabling the unveiling of its contradictions. This is an exploratory study with a quantitative-qualitative approach, of a bibliographic and documentary nature, conducted through the review of scientific articles, dissertations, books, official documents, and data related to the National Student Assistance Policy, the instrumentality of Social Work, and student assistance at UFS, obtained mainly from the university’s institutional portal. The results show that the socio-professional intervention developed at UFS has a centered and focalized character, guided by an institutional logic aligned with neoliberalism, which primarily requires social workers to carry out socioeconomic assessments aimed at managing student assistance benefits. This has contributed to professional overload and to the implementation of immediate and short-term interventions, especially during periods of student assistance selection processes, due to limitations on autonomy in professional actions and work planning.