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The meaning of work for persons with disability

This research aims to analyze the meaning of work for people with disability (PwD). We chose to adopt the perspective of social psychology to understand the production of meanings related to work because of his relationship with the production of subjectivity. The size of the work as a social reality, as well as claims Dejours (2004), it is essential to human activity, contributing not only to the satisfaction of economic needs, but also psychological and social. For the PwD, the study of this assigning senses becomes compelling as the work has been considered an important means of inclusion of these people in society. We adopted a qualitative research for understanding the production of meaning, with the analysis of discursive practices and techniques of interview partners (Spink, 2004). Social constructionism was used as a research method. We conducted ten interviews with disabled people entered the labor market chosen by snowball technique. For the analysis procedure, there was an adaptation of the feature maps of the association of ideas used by Spink (1999). The analysis allowed the elaboration of the categories survival, need to be useful, financial and personal independence, social identity, job training, personal effort and "not having a job." It was observed in the discursive productions in the centrality of work all their lives, while for some more related to survival and for others, social inclusion. The experiences at work are related to feelings of capability and usefulness to society. This work allowed us to understand that the regularities found in the discursive repertoires refer the meaning of work for the full exercise of citizenship.

Labor; Disability; Diversity; Senses; Inclusion


Editora Mackenzie; Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie Rua da Consolação, 896, Edifício Rev. Modesto Carvalhosa, Térreo - Coordenação da RAM, Consolação - São Paulo - SP - Brasil - cep 01302-907 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
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