Social representations of women in prison facing the diagnosis of syphilis

Objective: To know the social representations of women in deprivation of liberty in the face of the diagnosis of syphilis. Method: the study was carried out at the Santa Luzia Female Prison, located in Maceió, Alagoas, from July to December 2017. For data collection, the semi-structured interview technique, guided by an interview form, was applied. The discussion of the results obtained was built from the thematic categorization by the technique of content analysis in interrelation with the Theory of Social Representations. Results: After analyzing the results, two categories emerged that revealed the social representation of women living in deprivation of freedom: "Moment of diagnosis and feelings of discovery" and "Social representations of diagnosis", the latter related to feelings of need for change of behavior, fear, regret and prejudice. Final consideration: The social representations of women living in deprivation of liberty in the face of the positive diagnosis of syphilis leads to the repression of the way of living and acting in this scenario with regard to this condition. It is suggested that the female prison system and health managers develop a systematic work to prevent and treat syphilis, with a view to promoting the health of this population.