Abstract

DA SILVA GONCALVES FERNANDES, Janaína; RODRIGUES DA COSTA, Beethoven Hortencio  and  SIQUEIRA DE ANDRADE, Márcia. SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT FAMILY OF THE ELDERLY. Cienc. Psicol. [online]. 2017, vol.11, n.1, pp.41-48. ISSN 1688-4094.  https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v11i2.1345.

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the social representations of the elderly about family. A qualitative research was conducted, guided by the Theory of Social Representations. Participants were 14 elderly retired people, aged 65-86 years and residents in the western region of São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The data were analyzed by the Descending Hierarchical Classification, with support of IRAMUTEQ software, and posteriorly with the Content Analysis Technique. Two themes have been identified from the participants’ discourse: family education and losses (departure of sons, and changes and death). It was considered that the role of the elderly within the family context depends on the sense they have of the aging process itself. In active and autonomous old age the family needs to be protected and educated. In fragilized elderly the sense of family is related to losses.

Keywords : aging; family relatives; life’s history; elderly; social representation..

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