Apoyo social para la parentalidad: experiencias en programas de infancia en Chile

This article reports on the principal difficulties faced by parental figures involved with programs for protection of childhood rights in Araucania Region, Southern Chile, and support mechanisms available for emotional, informational, and instrumental aid. A qualitative and quantitative research methodology was used to survey 99 parents and guardians, with indepth interviews for 6 mothers or guardians belonging to different family configurations, from different ethnic origins and areas. It was found that most people involved in intervention processes are women —mothers or guardians— who face a wide range of emotional, instrumental, and information difficulties, possess limited informal support networks, and receive social intervention from formal networks that tends to only impair their parental self-effectiveness.