The present study verifies the forms of subjectivity in a nucleus of residential shelters for protection of childhood and adolescence in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We aimed at grasping possible performances of psychology in the expansion of the lives of the sheltered youth in a singular and creative way. Cartography was used as an investigative method, and we drew a map considering the individual, the collective, and the institutional instances comprising this realm. We observed influences of the disciplinary logic that tends to produce stereotyped individuals, along with the exacerbation of contemporary phenomena such as the weakening of bonds, the weakening of symbolic functions, the weakening of both collective and individual reflection, followed by acts of violence. Facing this reality, the group exercises proved to be a strong strategy as they enabled the individuals to express their questions collectively as an alternative to individualistic solutions.
children; adolescents; shelter; groups