Social Representations of Deprivation of Liberty: A Prototypical Analysis among Penitentiary System Users

Abstract

Objective. The objective was to analyze the social representations of deprivation of liberty (DL) among users of the prison system. Forty individuals deprived of liberty matched for sex participated. Method. Sociodemographic questionnaires and the Free Word Association Test (FAWT) were applied with the term “deprivation of liberty” as an inducer. The questionnaire data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS software, while the TALP data was analyzed using the IRaMuTeQ software. Results. From the research question, it was found that among men representations deal with longing, suffering, anguish, and faith. Among women, it means pain for the lack of children, feeling of sadness and loneliness. Therefore, it appears that the groups shared similar representations about the deprivation of liberty, highlighting emotional and psychological aspects, and the longing for the family.