INTERVENCIÓN ESPECIALIZADA EN MALTRATO INFANTIL EN CHILE EN CONTEXTO DE CRISIS POR COVID-19: SIGNIFICADOS DE LOS PROFESIONALES INTERVINIENTES

The pandemic by COVID-19 affected the workplace of psychosocial teams for the support of child abuse victims. The ways of attention have passed from the face to face to the online sessions, with the challenges that this entails in both the practical and technical, protective. The most vulnerable families present greater problems of internet connection –with the consequent isolation– and greater stress that can worsen the relationship within the family, increasing the complexity of the interventions. In this context, the aim of the study was to describe the meanings of the professionals in centers specialized in the care of child abuse victims with respect to the specialized intervention developed during the crisis by COVID-19. Forty-two professionals from these centers participated and answered a semi-structured online interview. The results of the analysis of qualitative content give an account of the meanings associated to the risks associated to the intervention in this context (for the children and their families, for the intervention, associated to the precarization of sociomaterial conditions, low connectivity and confinement). However, participants also highlight opportunities and resources in the intervention (the capacity to adapt the interventions to the new context and teamwork). All of the above is useful in the immediate term in order to make risks and opportunities visible in a crisis that seems to be longer than originally thought. It is necessary to act quickly in order to make the pertinent modifications in the interventions so as to reduce the risks and enhance the opportunities for the benefit of children and adolescents.