Gender, health and school: a case study

Abstract

The definition of health has become more complex over the years, encompassing the full magnitude of human life. As we look at humanity, we can identify which distinct roles are expected of men and women, and from our perspective we believe we are observing processes of female submission within this context. In this scenario, there have been few women with emotional disturbances. Given the above, we question how gender issues can contribute to increase the incidence of emotional problems in a basic school in Rio de Janeiro? We investigated how symbolic power exerted through gender relations can have different effects on emotional health indices at school. To this end, we aim to understand possible regularities between the roles socially attributed to the sexes and the incidence of psychic diseases in the school. The proposal comprised a case study, adopting a strategy of conducting semi-structured interviews with teachers, staff, students; the development of pedagogical workshops; the collection of documents that regulate the lives of the subjects in the field; free observation and field journaling. As an analysis instrument we used data triangulation. The results presented point to a profound influence of gender issues within the school, without the participants participating in the research being clear about this interference. The influence of this structure on health and disease promotion has also been identified. A significant difficulty was perceived in understanding the meaning of the concept of gender and its influence on life as a whole. Data analysis indicated the need for mechanisms that clarify, reflect and promote actions aimed at resolving inequalities in gender relations within school spaces, taking into account the socializing and emancipatory capacity of these places. Moreover, this study aimed to contribute to fruitful academic and school reflections on the subject.