Social Representation of Elderly Violence

Abstract

One of the consequences of aging is the stress of necessary adjustments in living arrangements which carry with it changes in social participation and dependency. These give rise to the phenomenon under investigation in this study: that of violence…often blatant, but sometimes muted. The literature speaks of an increase in the phenomenon worldwide which can be obscured in the non evident cases. This study attempts to surmount the obstacles not only by delving into the epidemiology, but investigating its significance and representations via the comparison of expressions from a studied population in two countries: United States and Portugal. We present the partial results of a research using both qualitative and quantitative methodology that examines the social representations of elderly violence using the framework of Moscovici's Social Representation Theory. We analysed the thoughts of sixty participants divided into three categories : elderly individuals, family members and health workers. Content analysis was treated by the ALCESTE software that allows the comparison between the elements of the corpus of words or sentences. The results revealed the social representation of elderly violence for the subjects considering their cultural differences. It also highlights the importance of the reciprocity between individuals and the environment where violence occurs. In addition, evidences the lack of educational preparation of two main support pillars to the elderly: family and health professionals. The similarities of terms associated with violence points to the possibility of using a consensual concept proposed by the authors to promote preventative strategies while discussing the phenomenon.