This study aimed to identify and verify the social representations (SR) of the violence against elderly people among students from Arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha-PE. The sample was comprised of 100 students from both sexes, of high school, with age average of 20,3 years old. The following methods were used: semi-structured interviews and the Word Free Association Test (WFAT). The interviews were categorized by the Content Analysis (Bardin, 2002) and the WFAT by the semantic networks technique (Reyes-Lagunes, 1993). The data obtained by the WFAT revealed SR related to intolerance (100%), cowardice (57,2%), inhuman (40,7%), ignorance (25,7%) and violence (10%). Concerning data from the interview, the most significant categories were disrespect, maltreats, indignation, and security. It is concluded the need for prevention in an informative level, as well as the awareness of population with priority to the detection and prevention of cases of violence against the elderly.
violence against the elderly; social representations; students
