Psychology’s views on violence against women: incursions from the Gender Studies

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Violence against women is a growing social phenomenon in Brazil, presenting alarming statistics. According to the latest review of the Brazilian Atlas of Violence of 2019, the number of women murdered in 2017 is the highest in 10 years. This paper seeks to reflect on the participation of Psychology in the search for understanding and ways of coping with the series of violence that affects women. OBJECTIVE: To understand the ways in which Psychology has addressed violence against women, particularly from a gender perspective. METHODOLOGY: Approaches were analyzed based on a bibliographic research with material produced by professional regulatory and associative entities, as well as scientific articles in Psychology, published in national journals, between 2013 and 2017. The theoretical reference is Social Psychology. Criticism. The methodological approach, given the specificities of this study, is the Integrative Review. RESULTS: Authors who work from the perspective of Critical Social Psychology have contributed substantially to overcoming a Psychology based on the naturalization of social roles, which makes it difficult to problematize the gender category as socially constructed. Of the thirty-two scientific articles analyzed, twenty-three point to gender as a relevant category, 11 of which emphasize this category as a social and historical construct that is at the service of male-female dichotomies, favorable to the perpetuation of violence. CONCLUSION: Although it is recognized the need for further studies, it is remarkable the effort of the area to approach the theme.