Abstract
This study investigated the social images associated with young people in residential care and with typical young people. The participants were 224 people selected by convenience, with ages between 18 to 71 years old (M = 33.97, SD = 11.42), 68.4% of them had contact with teenagers in vulnerability and risk. The instrument used was a Likert scale questionnaire with 37 words describing young people. The results indicated that negative characteristics were more associated to the young people living in residential care. Subsequent analysis showed that participants who had contact with young people in vulnerability and risk perceive young people in residential care as less hard working than the other participants, but this contact does not significantly interfere in the perception about them. Therefore, it is important to devise social strategies to discuss the images related to these young people. Professionals who work in these institutions need training in order to raise awareness of stigmatization and to achieve a favorable monitoring of their development.
Youth in Care; Residential Care; Institucionalization; Social Images