Desvelando o comportamento de crianças que vivem em situação de violência por meio do brinquedo terapêutico dramático

Abstract

Emotional health in childhood, especially when permeated by situations of violence, began to require greater attention from health professionals, especially nurses, who commonly have more contact with users. As a therapeutic possibility for these situations, dramatic therapeutic play is a strategy to minimize the aggravation of unpleasant feelings and behaviors. Thus, the present work had as its research question: how does Dramatic Therapeutic Play help the behavior of children in situations of violence? And the objective: to understand how dramatic therapeutic toys help the behavior of children in situations of violence. To this end, research using a qualitative approach and descriptive method was carried out. The study was carried out at the Institutional Reception Service of the Municipality of Chapecó, Santa Catarina, between July and October 2023. Six DTP sessions were carried out in the study with 3 children of both sexes, of school age (6 to 12 years old). As an exclusion criterion, children who were not present at the institution during the data collection period, because they were at school or in some other activity, and children who joined the institution after the start of data collection were considered. The data was produced through notes in a field diary, an interview guide with the children and audio recordings and transcriptions. The data were analyzed using Bardin's content analysis. Furthermore, this research respected the standards and guidelines of National Health Council Resolution No. 466 of 2012 and has CAAE number 69652423.6.0000.5564 and opinion number 6.114.952. During the BTD applications, four categories of behavior were observed: Aggressive behaviors, in which the children showed moments of aggression towards the researcher or the toys, simulating situations of violence such as using weapons to shoot the researcher and hitting the toys on the floor; Verbal expression behaviors, where children verbalized situations in which they were victims of violence, avoided talking about painful subjects, usually related to a family member, expressed themselves by shouting or with irritation, especially when talking about their families and the possibility of returning to live together with them, and demonstrate a feeling of guilt, as if they were responsible for the situations of violence to which they were subjected; Body movement behaviors, in which children showed tremors and expressions of fear or stopped playing, and moved to change places or play, especially when talking about topics that caused them anxiety and fear; and Emotion expression behaviors, in which children presented pleasant and unpleasant emotions through laughter and smiles, disgust and sadness, and expressing feeling cared for or wanting to be cared for, related to moments where they told positive and negative memories and They talked about the places they currently live. Among the most common behaviors identified in this study are those related to anger and aggression, sadness, guilt, fear and anxiety. The BTD proved to be an instrument capable of assisting in the expression, perception and regulation of these feelings.