O programa bolsa família: um estudo sobre os efeitos do descumprimento das condicionalidades em Presidente Dutra-Ba

Abstract

The present thesis comes from a study on Bolsa Família Program (BFP) in the city of Presidente Dutra-BA, from September, 2015 to March, 2016. Its object of analysis are the effects of the noncompliance to the conditionalities of BFP. The general goal was to analyze the repercussion of the effects on account of such noncompliance. To reach that goal, the support came from theorists who discuss the categories of poverty, social issues social and policies. Aiming to guide the necessary studies, hypotheses were defined. The first hypothesis was that the effects of that noncompliance reinforce the dynamics of exclusion of the families and the second was that such noncompliance legitimizes the idea of blaming the individual/family for their impoverished situation. The research was of a qualitative and quantitative nature. To reach the proposed goals, we conducted a careful analysis of official documents directly connected to the BFP. Following this, we interviewed two families whose benefits had been suspended. After the articulation between the theoretical knowledge, the documents’ and interviews’ analyses, the guiding hypotheses were confirmed. Thus, we confirmed that the noncompliance to the conditionalities are based on a liberal/neoliberal thought towards the blaming of the families for their own poverty, in the sense that they can only remain in the Program if they fully comply to the conditionalities. The other hypothesis, equally confirmed, reinforces the idea that the effects based on sanctions contribute to the dynamics of social exclusion and has intergenerational repercussions. Furthermore, beyond the intended goals, there is a reinforcement of the idea that the income transfer is not recognized as a right, but as an instrument that controls the threat for those who do not fit. This happens because their repercussions penalize even more the families that are recognized as in a situation of risk and vulnerability.