Resumen

This research was conducted in 2007 and sought to explore the sociocultural meanings given by social workers of the Metropolitan Area to their tasks. The pourpose of this study was to observe the richness, possibilities and limitations of the professional intervention strategies that they display.The research included a literature review to understand the political and educational contexts; the construction of categories that could affect the intervention strategies; twelve semi-structured interviews to social workers; and finally, the analysis of findings which may influence Social Wok intervention methods.
The main results show that social workers identify the institutional space as a context that single-handedly determines their possibilities of successful intervention (the power is a condition). The strategies and techniques are developed from assistance (closer relationship with the clients) to empowerment (coordination’s roles into a professional team). The research does not pretend to generalize but is a possibility to inquire the actual social work and their proposals.