THE PROFESSIONAL PROFILES OF INSERTION AGENTS FROM SOCIAL ECONOMY ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

Professional profiles are a study object under permanent reflection by Sociology (Bourdieu, 1989; Dubar, 1991). There is, however, a shortage of work in Portugal on the professional profiles of Social Economy workers, a sector with recognised potential for the country’s economy and development (INE, 2020). This article is based on the partial results of two researches that have in common the study, from a qualitative approach, of the professional profiles associated with the support of people with experiences of “social detachment” (Paugam, 2000). The answers at the level of specific training of these professionals do not follow the trend of structuring of the sector. The results presented point towards the complexity and demand of the professional profile that we call “Insertion Professional”, whose intervention takes place in a sector with multiproblems, in which there is a lack of guidance on the definition of their functions and in which there is an evidence of empathic relationship competencies with the target publics of the interventions.