“Coffee and talk with Marias”

women’s assessment of operative groups in the management of gender violence

Abstract

The objetive of this study was to evaluate, from the participants’ perspective, the important aspects of operative groups in the management of violence against women. The research conducted is a qualitative case report involving adult women living in an area under the coverage of a Family Health Strategy Program in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais. Ten meetings were held with groups consisting of 10 women from February to May, 2013. Data were collected by means of interviews and analyzed according to Pichon Rivière’s group process indicators. By using the above-mentioned theory, group coordinators were able to be more sympathetic towards violence against women. The group dynamics helped women to express subjective and latent issues which reshaped every new meeting in the sense of discussing and expressing fears, needs, and fights in depth. Drawing on the group process indicators of the Pichonian thinking the operative group strategy turns out to be an effective manner by which health care providers can build, interpret and evaluate group work models, particularly that of women’s.