The Paths of Poverty: Profiles and Social Policies in the City of Lisbon

Study in the area of ​​poverty, which deepens the social profiles of users of the Acolhimento Social da Santa Casa, an initiative inserted in a strategy of innovation and qualification of the social responses of Misericórdia de Lisboa. “Who are the people who use the Social Welfare services of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa? Why do they seek support and what types of response do they get? What is your relationship with work and with the various lines of social response? Are they people who will forever be dependent on social aid or do they have the capacity for autonomy? This study answers these questions, intending to understand how the current dynamics of Portuguese society reconfigure the experiences of poverty and questioning the current available answers. The results show the seriousness of the situation of poverty and social exclusion of the public served that social policies, allowing to alleviate, are not able to overcome. It also shows the need to reinforce the decisive role of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, based on its unique, essential and specific place in the network of social services and in the panorama of the definition of social policies in Portugal”. This publication is the result of a partnership between Santa Casa da Misericórdia, DINAMIA/CET - Center for Territorial Studies of ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute and CESS - Center for Social Work Studies and Sociology of the Portuguese Catholic University.

Authors: Alexandra Castro and Isabel Guerra (coord.)

Year of publication: 2010
Editor: SCML
ISBN: 9789728761691