MOTHERS’ SOCIAL REPRESENTATION ABOUT THE FAMILY

Abstract

This piece of research ai m ed at studying the social representation of lhe family among mothers, as, culturally, lhe mothers Lave been considered the center of lhe family context.
After presenting a brief historical review of lhe family conceptions along lhe centuries and a contex-tualization of its images and functions, lhe study was theoretically guided by lhe social representations theory. Twelve mothers of different ages, instruction leveis, marital statuses and economic leveis were interviewed. The critical points of the interview referred to the mother’s role in the family: the children’s upbringing and other matters related to family life. The analysis of the collected data revealed the importance of the mother’s presence in the family, as well as two basic notions of its composition: a nucleus (father-mother-children) and a wider conception, in which conviviality and affinity define the family liaisons. The division of roles and functions between father and mother differed significantly depending on the economic class to which the
interviewees belonged. Finally, the conception of ideal family revealed the mothers’ desire to have a stable family, according to a traditional model, in which the marriage and the maintenance of the family nucleus are essential for the existence of a healthy family.