Psycho and social suffering in unemployment situations

Abstract

This study aimed to identify psychic and social suffering factors in unemployed individuals. Data collection was conducted at a Center of Services to Workers located in a municipality in the state of São Paulo. A Sociodemographic Questionnaire and the instrument to assess psycho-social suffering in unemployed workers were used for data collection. Out of 100 respondents, 57% are men and 43% are women, aged between 19 and 41, with mean unemployment time of 11.7 months. The instrument presented the mean of the items that correspond to psychic suffering equal to 3.32 (standard deviation = 1.29), with variation between “sometimes” and “often” for aspects such as insecurity, fear and shame, while the mean of social suffering was 1.84 (standard deviation = 0.98), varying between “rarely” and “sometimes” with social support indicators from family members and friends. The results revealed the experience of unemployment on the part of respondents and pointed to the need for psychology actions in the social, work and clinical areas aimed at assisting the impacts caused by unemployment as well as the creation of public policies to reduce the impact of recession.