From patriarchy to politics: social work and the overcoming of violent masculinity

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between public policies, the overcoming of violent masculinity, and Social Work intervention from a critical-dialectical perspective. Hegemonic masculinity is understood not as an individual trait, but as a social construction functional to the maintenance of patriarchy and capitalism. In this context, the resocialization of men who perpetrate violence against women requires more than punitive approaches, demanding intersectoral policies that promote the transformation of the material and ideological conditions sustaining gender inequality. Social Work, committed to an ethical-political project of human emancipation, operates in mediating immediate demands and the struggle for structural change, articulating accountability, critical education, and the construction of new forms of sociability. It is concluded that only the integration of intervention practices and social transformation can break the cycle of gender-based violence.