Psychogenesis of the notion of violence: an evolutionary study based on the piagetian perspective

Abstract

The paper presents part of an evolutionary study regarding the ideas of children and adolescents on urban violence. The study included 40 subjects aged between 6 and 15; consisting of 10 subjects aged 6; 10 aged 9; 10 aged 12; and 10 aged 15. All subjects were enrolled in two public schools, one located in the interior of São Paulo’s State and the other in greater São Paulo. The subjects underwent three methodological procedures: a clinical interview, the drawing of a picture, and the analysis of a movie. In this paper, we present the data obtained from the application of the clinical interview, specifically those concerning the main theme:“definition of violence”. The results indicate that most subjects have difficulties in understanding and defining the phenomenon of violence and its complexity. They tend to associate it only to the most visible and concrete situations or conflicts, focusing on a basic level of understanding of the social reality. The analysis and the theoretical references are based on the Piagetian perspective about the construction of social knowledge. Pedagogical implications based on the evolutionary psychogenic studies as well as the understanding of the processes covered for the understanding of social reality are also presented in the article.