This article investigates the reasons for disobedience of the rules imposed by the state by beneficiaries of social policies, specifically the Family Grant Program, instituted by Brazil's federal government in 2003. The investigation is based on the data collected in a qualitative study that interviewed legal heads of households who receive the benefit, but who are in a situation of non-compliance with the conditionalities. It tries to understand the elements intrinsic to the ideology of groups or individuals who do not comply with the social norms, even when subject to penalties. It analyzes the hegemonic perspective of the program, based on concepts of hegemony, consensus and coercion from Antonio Gramsci. The reach and limits of the penalties are seen as a form of coercion and the recognition and acceptance of rules as consensus.
Social policy; Income transfer; Hegemony; Coercion; Consensus