Adolescent apprentices' social representations of work: a pilot study

Authors

  • Elsa de Mattos Universidade Federal da Bahia; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia
  • Antonio Marcos Chaves Universidade Federal da Bahia; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.19803

Keywords:

Adolescent, Adolescent Development, Work, Child Labor

Abstract

The present study investigated adolescent apprentices' social representations of work and its relationship to study. Seventy adolescents, with ages raging from 15 to 18 years old, participating in an apprenticeship program developed by a NGO in Salvador (Bahia), answered an open-ended questionnaire that contained the following questions: What does work mean to you? What does it mean to be a working adolescent? How do you feel about studying and working at the same time? The answers were submitted to a content analysis for the main themes. Findings point to 3 types of social representation of work among apprentice adolescents: work outcomes, work attitudes, and personal development. Aspects such as financial earnings (i.e. wage) and task performance emerged as work outcomes. Among the work attitudes, the most significant were responsibility and competence development. In the domain of personal development, aspects such as learning and acquisition of experience were relevant. The relationship between working and studying appears to be a complex one, demanding conciliation efforts on the part of adolescents, but it does not necessarily have a negative connotation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Oliveira DC, Fischer FM, Martins IS, Teixeira LR, Sá C. Futuro e liberdade: o trabalho e a instituição escolar nas representações sociais de adolescentes. Estud Psicol (Natal). 2001;6(2):245-58.

Fischer FM, Martins IS, Oliveira DC, Teixeira LR, Latorre MD, Cooper S. Occupational accidents among middle and high school students of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Rev Saúde Pública. 2003;37(3):351-6.

Martins IS, Fischer FM, Oliveira DC, Teixeira LR, Costa LR, Marinho SP, et al. Crescimento e trabalho de estudantes de ensino fundamental e médio em São Paulo, Brasil. Rev Saúde Pública. 2002;36(1):19-25.

Alves-Mazzotti AJ. Trabalho infanto-juvenil: representações sociais de meninos trabalhadores, seus pais, professores e empregadores. In: Paredes AM, Oliveira DC, editores. Estudos interdisciplinares de representação social. Goiânia: AB; 1998. p. 285-302.

Oliveira DC, Fischer FM, Amaral MA, Teixeira MC, Sá CP. Positividade e negatividade do trabalho nas representações sociais de adolescentes. Psicol Reflex Crít. 2005;18(1):125-33.

Arnett JJ. Learning to stand alone. Hum Dev.1998;41(5-6):295-315.

Sarriera JC, Câmara SG, Berlim CS. Elaboração, desenvolvimento e avaliação de um programa de inserção ocupacional para jovens desempregados. Psicol Reflex Crít. 2000;13(1):189-98.

Sarriera JC, Silva MA, Kabbas CP, Lopes VB. Formação ocupacional em adolescentes. Estud Psicol (Natal). 2001;6(1):27-32.

Moscovici S. Representações sociais: investigações em psicologia social. Rio de Janeiro: Vozes; 2004.

Sá CP. Núcleo central das representações sociais. Rio de Janeiro: Vozes; 1996.

Jodelet D. Representações sociais: um domínio em expansão. In: Jodelet D, editor. As representações sociais. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ; 2001. p. 17-44.

Wagner W. Descrição, exploração e método em representações sociais. In: Guareschi P, Jovchelovitch S, editores. Textos em representações sociais. Rio de Janeiro: Vozes;1995. p. 149-86.

Abric JC. O estudo experimental das representações sociais. In: Jodelet D, editor. As representações sociais. Rio de Janeiro: Ed UERJ; 2001. p. 155-7.

Arnett JJ. Adolescents’ uses of media for self-socialization. J Youth Adolesc. 1995;24(5):519-34.

Downloads

Published

2006-12-01

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 3 (2006)

Section

Original Research

License

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR JOURNAL  PUBLISHERS

 

Publishers who are Committee on Publication Ethics members and who support COPE membership for journal editors should:

 

Publishers should:

 

  • Define the relationship between publisher, editor and other parties in a contract
  • Respect privacy (for example, for research participants, for authors, for peer reviewers)
  • Protect intellectual property and copyright
  • Foster editorial independence

 

Publishers should work with journal editors to:

 

  • Set journal policies appropriately and aim to meet those policies, particularly with respect to:

–         Editorial  independence

–         Research ethics, including confidentiality, consent, and the special requirements for human and animal research

–         Authorship

–         Transparency and integrity (for example, conflicts of interest, research funding, reporting standards

–         Peer review and the role of the editorial team beyond that of the journal editor

–         Appeals and complaints

  • Communicate journal policies (for example, to authors, readers, peer reviewers)
  • Review journal policies periodically, particularly with respect to new recommendations from the COPE
  • Code of Conduct for Editors and the COPE Best Practice Guidelines
  • Maintain the integrity of the academic record
  • Assist the parties (for example, institutions, grant funders, governing bodies) responsible for the investigation of suspected research and publication misconduct and, where possible, facilitate in the resolution of these cases
  • Publish corrections, clarifications, and retractions
  • Publish content on a timely basis