OBJECTIVES: Apprehend the social representations of violence made by older people and professionals that serve the elderly at the complaints. METHODOLOGY: This is an exploratory research using a qualitative approach, conducted with the guardianship of the public service/office specialist in the city of João Pessoa- Paraíba, with thirty-four seniors who attend the elderly victim, who answered a semi-structured interview. Data were processed by Alceste 4.8 software. RESULTS: The data submitted to Alceste 4.8 software, was formed by a corpus corresponding to 34 units of text or Initial Context (ICU's), withdrew from the hierarchical analysis 105 words, equivalent to 86.87%, pointing to two major classes: meanings attributed to violence and the elderly and professional impact of violence on the lives of the elderly according to the subjects interviewed. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: the social representations about the consequences of violence to the elderly and their impact on the professional front on this issue indicate that the studies so far carried out in Brazil on violence considers this phenomenon a public health problem. The ill-treatment and neglect against the elderly are a serious problem, not yet diagnosed in all its extension, especially in the family and institutional, deserving, therefore greater attention from government and non-governmental organizations.
Violence; Health; Aging; Nursing
