Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Interpretación jurídica e interpretación constitucional son dos de los temas sobre los que más se ha escrito e investigado en los últimos años en el ámbito de la teoría jurídica. Sin embargo, no parece claro si estas categorías son equivalentes o si, en alguna medida, existe una diferencia o cualificación entre ellas ¿Interpretar normas constitucionales es indistinguible de la interpretación de normas infra constitucionales? ¿Son los métodos de aplicación para normas legales los mismos que aquellos a ser empleados para aplicar normas constitucionales? Mientras que algunas teorías equiparan la interpretación de normas constitucionales a la interpretación de normas legales, otras teorías plantean desarrollar una metodología de interpretación propia para las normas constitucionales. La importancia de abordar la relación entre interpretación jurídica e interpretación constitucional radica en que, si la interpretación constitucional se diferencia de la interpretación jurídica en general, entonces será posible sostener que la metodología tradicional, basada en cánones de interpretación y la subsunción, es insuficiente para interpretar la constitución. El presente artículo busca estructurar un argumento en favor de la especialidad de la interpretación constitucional, sin que ello implique desvincularla totalmente de la teoría general de la interpretación jurídica.

Hospitals are places where the precariousness of social ties can turn into loneliness, especially in those moments in which a (greater) need for social care cannot be satisfied. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that has used the techniques of the systematisation of experiences and in-depth interviews with professionals in medicine, nursing and social work from different geriatric hospital services. The purpose has been to reflect on the family model of care as a producer of loneliness in elderly people in a situation of dependency, as well as on the multiple and varied conflicts that this loneliness generates in the planning processes of hospital discharge. The role of social work is identified as essential to overcome the lack of care that underlies the phenomenological manifestations of these kinds of loneliness. The main conclusions reached are added to other voices that have already urged the need to (re)think our care model, as the current one is not only obsolete and insufficient, but has been built on the (re)creation of inequalities.

This article presents theoretical reflections developed during postdoctoral studies regarding the circumstances of the governments of Brazil’s Workers’ Party and their impact on Brazilian social services. There is a particular need to review recent history taking into account the 2022 presidential elections. The article’s position is that when in power, the Workers’ Party has continued to advance the neoliberal agenda; its construction of a new social pact was only made possible based on a democracy of co-optation. We highlight the influence of these observations on Brazilian social work, identifying the existence of a socialist-reformist trend in the profession that is ultimately expressed in an overestimation of the principle of democracy.

The aim of this research was to describe the participation of the providers of socially organized care (State, families, market and community) in caregiving tasks among families living in poverty in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study used a descriptive quantitative design involving surveys conducted virtually in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Families, particularly their female members, faced a notable burden in terms of taking responsibility for and implementing caregiving. It was also observed that there were low levels of State involvement other than through financial transfers, but community organizations did have a presence, particularly in the context of the pandemic and the socioeconomic crisis that exacerbated it. Market-based care provision was restricted to hiring women from the same families as mentioned before to undertake caregiving tasks in households with greater purchasing power.

Loneliness has been identified as a global contemporary public health issue due to its impact on large numbers of people and the serious effects it has on health. Social support, social networks and human bonds are fundamental to the wellbeing of individuals, communities and society as a whole. We have recently witnessed the relationships that people need to feel good becoming weaker and more scarce, while paradoxically experiencing high levels of social connection thanks to technology. This issue affects us transversally, has a multifactorial origin and concerns different areas of everyday life. It is necessary to understand the issue, analyse its causes and determine its effects so as to imagine and propose relevant and effective interventions. What theoretical and practical tools can be used as a basis? What contribution can social work make to help address this issue? This article presents the development of a general theoretical framework on the issue of loneliness and analyses different perspectives and contributions that can help us to respond through professional practice.