Representações sociais das crianças sobre o trabalho Infantil na cidade de Maputo

Abstract

These papers understand the social representations about child labor of the children and parents in the Maputo city. The research identified and described the perceptions and meanings of children. As well, itidentified the meanings that parents attribute to child labor in Maputo city. The question that guided the research was as follow how children construct their social representations about child labor. The study was qualitative. We used semi- structured interview and direct observation to collect the data. The sample consisted of 30 children 15 males and 15 females. We also interviewed 10 parents of whom 2 were male and 8 were female. Thematic analysis was used to do data analysis. The study was based on Moscovici's theory of social representations (1961), fundamentally the concept of consensual universes. Our argument is that the socio-economic conditions and the values of the parents influence and determine the social representations of children on child labor in Maputo city. The main result was that the social representations of the children are constructed according to the basic needs of family, and the attitudes and volues of the parents regarding economic activities. Thus, we conclude that the economic (financial) and cultural factors (values and beliefs of parents) determine the construction of social representations of children on child labor in Maputo city.