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 Social Reception of Santa Casa, an initiative included in a strategy of innovation and qualification of the social responses of the Misericórdia de Lisboa. “Who are the people who seek the services of Social Reception of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa? Why do they seek support and what types of responses do they receive? What is their relationship with work and with the various lines of social response? Are they people who will remain forever dependent on social aid or do they have the capacity for autonomy? This study answers these questions, aiming to understand how the current dynamics of Portuguese society reconfigure the experiences of poverty and questioning the current available responses. The results show the severity of the situation of poverty and social exclusion of the served populations that social policies, while allowing relief, cannot overcome. It also shows the need to reinforce the determining role of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, based on its unique, essential, and specific place in the network of social benefits and in the landscape of social policy definition in Portugal.” This publication results from a partnership between Santa Casa da Misericórdia, DINAMIA/CET - Center for Territorial Studies of ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, and CESS – Center for Social Work and Sociology Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal.

Authors: Alexandra Castro and Isabel Guerra (coord.)

Year of publication: 2010
Publisher: SCML
ISBN: 9789728761691