ANALYSIS OF GUARDIANS’ VOCATION AT THE INSTITUTIONAL CARE SERVICE

Abstract

Children in risky situations such as deprivation of the family environment and parental negligence need special protection from the State, specifically from the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, through Casas Hogares, called public institutional care services. The importance of studying the relational dynamics of users and staff working in the entity was based on the need to determine that the links established between them are ethical and vocational. The study’s objective was to analyze the guardians’ vocation in the institutional care service located in Zone 6 of Ecuador. The research was framed in the context of the qualitative paradigm of ethnographic design with an exploratory scope. The following data collection techniques were used: field observation and semi-structured interviews elaborated based on categories and subcategories validated by experts. The questions were contrasted through content analysis. Significant results were obtained concerning the fact that vocation is essential. It allows the tutor to make interventions based on an adequate attachment through secure bonds and thus facilitate their activities with care work with the foster population.