Structural comparison of women’s and men’s representations regarding violence

Abstract

Objective: to compare the structure and content of women’s and men’s social representations about violence. Method: in this qualitative study based on the Theory of Social Representations, conducted in 2019, the participants were 150 users of the Family Health Strategy in the city of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul. The technique of free evocations and recorded interviews was used, approved by the Ethics Committee. A prototypical analysis was performed using EVOC software and a similarity analysis, using IRAMUTEQ. Results: the common element in women’s and men’s core representations was violence. The women’s representations were permeated by physical and verbal violence in the home. Men’s were notable for urban violence in public places. Final remarks: the structure and content of women’s and men’s social representations about violence involved violence as a common element, but there were nuances as to where it occurred and the types of violence that each sex is subject to.