Representações sociais dos riscos de desastres em Petrópolis – Rio de Janeiro, segundo seus moradores

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the content and structure of social representations of disaster risk in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, according to residents of the Alto da Serra neighborhood, using Serge Moscovici's theory of social representations and, in particular, Jean-Claude Abric's central core theory. The research instrument was a questionnaire with a free word association test for the inducing term ‘disaster risk in Petrópolis’, exploratory questions on the topic, and characterization of the researched group. The research was conducted with 100 residents of the Alto da Serra neighborhood in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro (the neighborhood most affected by the 2022 disasters, with 93 fatalities). The data analysis was prototypical to identify the structure and content present in the probable central core and peripheral system of social representation, using IRAMUTEQ software. The other questions underwent descriptive analysis. In the prototypical analysis for the inducing term ‘disaster risk in Petrópolis’, the cognitions that emerged in the probable central core of this representation were ‘fear’, ‘despair’, ‘flood’ and ‘landslide’. We concluded that social representations have a probable central core formed by negative emotions and feelings, demonstrating an affective knowledge of disaster risk, which seems to indicate difficulty in dealing with them, the most common in Petrópolis being floods and landslides. It seems to us that participants lack the action and leadership needed to deal with the issue, leaving them only to feel and recognize the sources of risk.