Social representations of employment and unemployment concepts’ in inhabitants of Santa Cruz, Tenerife

Abstract

With the theoretical and methodological background of social representations (SR), we analyzed the concepts of employment and unemployment in inhabitants of Santa Cruz, Tenerife. We used the associative technique of free listings for to learn about the content and structure of SR, as well as the identification of the core and the peripheral items. For the participants, the employment is a trade allows the access for the satisfaction of needs, personnel and family and of material goods. It takes personal effects as learning, growth and positive emotions. Requires responsibility, commitment and is an opportunity for personal and professional development. The unemployment is a free time, which implies the lack of money, generates poverty and problems, dependence, stress, sorrow, worry, fear and hopelessness. It takes social effects as chaos, migration, segregation and crime. They blame the politicians in the current economic crisis. The ways of confronting it are academic training and organization of workers.