The Mute Zone of the Social Representations about the Person with HIV/AIDS: Normative and Counternormative Elements of the Social Thinking

Abstract

This is a quali-quantitative and descriptive study. Its objective is analyze the content and the structure of the social representations of nurses about the person with HIV/AIDS, considering the explicit and masked elements (mute zone). The subjects were 150 nurses of a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Free evocations and the technique of substitution were used for the data collection. Data analyze was developed thought the methodology of construction of the Picture of Four Houses and the statistical comparison of the evocations in normal and substitution situation, thought EVOC software. The results showed central elements for the normal situation: health education, professional protection and treatment. For the substitution, were identified: the fear, prejudice and homosexuality, which with others were the probable elements of the mute zone. The method is important to make profound studies of social representations of the HIV/AIDS.

Keywords

• acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
• carrier state
• social representation
• evoc
• nursing