Social representations of old age held by Elementary School children in Salvador

Abstract

This study presents research data whose objective was to understand the representations constructed by children from public and private schools in Salvador, in relation to old age, their relationships with elderly people and future own-old age. This is an exploratory-descriptive research with a qualitative approach. 19 children from the 5th year of Elementary School participated, between 10 and 11 years old. It was based on the Theory of Social Representations to understand the data produced from the following procedures: Sociodemographic questionnaire, Focus group (with adapted play) and semi-structured individual interviews. Data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Among children from private schools, old age was represented as "reaching a certain age", wear and decline; elderly person as having the visible signs of old age and heterogeneous due to personal preferences. Respect was the main representation of interaction with the elderly and their future old age pointed out as healthy, autonomous and productive. In public schools, old age was represented as an accumulation of lifetime, wear and decline, and the elderly as the bearer of external signs of aging, although heterogeneous according to different previous contexts of life. Respect and instrumental help were the representations that describe their interactions and future old age indicated as healthy, technological and with a pleasant personality. Such representations reveal both the observation of the diversity of old age — even in the presence of some stereotypes — and may indicate a denial of aging influenced by predominant representations and media content, signaling the need for greater attention to old age as a theme in educational programs.