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Analytical explorations on the transformations of the work of the security forces’ professional group: the Portuguese case

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In the last thirty years, important social changes have reconfigured the “world of work” in European countries. The organizational and technical innovation in the productive fabric, new forms of work organization, the predominance of the service sector, the high level of academic and professional qualification and feminization of employment, the persistent discrimination and devaluation of women in the labor market, wage inequalities, contractual instability, and job insecurity are some of these reconfigurations that reflect the socioeconomic model of advanced capitalism. Our communication focuses on the problematization of the nature and working conditions of the security forces' professional group in Portugal, which reflects, in particular, the changes pointed out, but also the changes in the functions and organization of the State within the framework of the “new public management” model. Based on the empirical information of the project (focus group) - Medicines and dietary supplements in performance consumptions: practices, contexts, and literacy, we will discuss: the work practices and routines and their redefinition, with the widening of the intervention areas of the security forces, which implies an occupational profile in which the multi-purpose and multi-skills prevail leading to the increase of work (aggravated by the personal deficit); the extension and irregularity of working hours; high incidences of occupational accidents, occupational diseases and physical and emotional fatigue with an increasing manifestation of professional pressure. New forms of relations between the group and society subsist (permanent evaluation of its actions, particularly through the media and denunciations on social networks) and with political and judicial power (disciplinary proceedings and civil and criminal actions). We will analyze how the changes relate to the use of performance consumptions (dietary supplements and medicines) by the security forces for their professional performance, in physical, intellectual, and social terms.

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Work organization Professional groups Security forces Portugal

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Gonçalves C, Melo S, Tavares D. Analytical explorations on the transformations of the work of the security forces’ professional group: the Portuguese case. In: IV ISA Forum of Sociology [online], Porto Alegre (Brazil), February 23-28, 2021.

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