The highway wanderers are aimless individuals who walk long distances on foot carrying their meager belongings in a sack on their backs and when are in hardness situations appeal to the help institutions. This paper aims to verify how the help workers understand the highway wanderers way of life. The research was conducted in four assistance institutions in the State of São Paulo (two publics and two philanthropics). The reports were analyzed using the content analysis. The results indicated that comprehension of these help workers about the highway wanderers is related to vagabondage, mental illness and family disaggregation. The data show us the necessity of an ample discussion around these help policies and its impacts in the wandering of highway wanderers.
social psychology; professional organizations; public policies; assistence.