Social Occupational Therapy, impoverished youth and everyday Urban Mobility

Abstract

: Considering social participation as an objective in Social Occupational Therapy, we discuss the incorporation of the concept of Everyday Urban Mobility from four of its action technologies: (a) workshops/activities, dynamics and projects; b) individual territorial follow-ups; c) articulation of resources in the social field; d) dynamization of the support network. Based on data from a research study with impoverished young favela[1] dwellers in Brazil, this study included a secondary analysis of these data, and discusses how urban mobility could be incorporated into social occupational therapy practices. We conclude that social occupational therapy (from a political perspective of mobility), can develop actions to facilitate the urban mobility of young people and use it as a point of departure for occupational therapy professional practice. In doing so, it becomes possible to apply mobility as an objective, a resource, a means of assessing everyday life, and/or an aspect to be considered in micro- and macro-social work endeavours that are linked to social policies.

 

Keywords: Social Occupational Therapy, Youth, Right to Freedom of Movement, Citizenship, Urbanization.

[1] Favelas are areas comprising popular housing mostly occupied by impoverished workers. Historically, Brazilian favelas are seen as an "urban problem", stigmatized as violent places with no presence of the State that are dominated by criminal factions. Brazilian favela dwellers carry these stigmas, especially the young, who are seen as violent, dangerous, and disorderly²¹.