Grey scene of violence and the multiple facets of the family: psychosocial approach

Abstract

Violence is a public health problem that affects many societies in the global context. Has endemic and multidimensional, can be represented differently between societies and their groups. The objective was to apprehend the social representations of violence and the family produced by children and adolescents in Joao Pessoa, PB. The sample consisted of 180 children and adolescents, who completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and a word association test, through the stimulus “violence” and “family”. The data were processed by the software Tri-Deux-Mots. The social representations elaborated by the participants showed consensus and dissent, children violence anchored in concrete aspects and psychosocial elements, while adolescents associated with physical and legal consequences of the phenomenon. The universe shared by the participants demonstrated the multiple faces of family, represented in this study in an ambivalent way. That is, the family has been objectified as an atmosphere of unity and affection, but also set an environment permeated with hostile fights.