It is the purpose of the present study to evaluate the integration process between small farmers and the agrarian reformer settlers in a city that is located in the region known as zona da mata (bushy zone) in the state of Paraiba. This evaluation was accomplished by surveying the popular beliefs among the groups. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 232 individuals from 14 to 78 years of age, (M=28.31; DP=14.45), being 116 male and 116 female. It was verified that the socio-demographic variables (gender, marital status, and the origin of settlers) have not exerted any influence on the group's integration process. The leading factor towards integration lays on the way the central government finances farming production, for, before the Pronaf, conflicting dialogues were seen to have occurred between settlers and their neighbors - the small farmers.
rural development; social psychology; Pronaf
