In this research we analyzed the psychological processes underlying some forms of facing violence against women. The participants were 120 Brazilian adolescents from public schools of São Paulo, of both genders, and aged 12, 14 and 16 years old. The instrument was a report of a conflict with episodes of verbal and physical violence experienced by an adolescent and her boyfriend. We identified five different ways to understand the violence against women and a relation among the proposed resolutions' strategies, thoughts and feelings attributed to the protagonists, and the imagined dynamics for this relation. It was observed that violence occurs more among men than among women, and more among younger than among older people.
violence against women; mental representations; thoughts organizing models; adolescence
