The Construction of Social Representations about the Poverty and Social Inequality in Childhood and Adolescence

Using a model cognitive-evolutive, this work study the construction of social representations about the poverty and social inequality in 240 students' of both sexes and with ages between 6 yrs. 11 months to 18 yrs. 11 months, residing in cities with operation limited financier from the IX Region, Chile. A clinical interview clinical piagetian was use which investigated the social representation of diverse social economic groups and the characteristics of each one, the social mobility process and the solutions to poverty. Results indicated the existence of four levels of development of the representations elaborated by the subjects, observing differences in the evolutive rhythm related to the socioeconomic status of each subject. In the  discussion, it is analyzed the interaction between the development of cognitives capacities and the influence of cultural dominant ideas belonging to each economic status in the construction of social representations during infancy and adolescence.