A zona muda das representações sociais sobre o portador de HIV/AIDS: elementos normativos e contranormativos do pensamento social.

This is a quali-quantitative and descriptive study. Its objective is analyze the content and the structure of the social representations of nurses about the person with HIV/AIDS, considering the explicit and masked elements (mute zone). The subjects were 150 nurses of a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Free evocations and the technique of substitution were used for the data collection. Data analyze was developed thought the methodology of construction of the Picture of Four Houses and the statistical comparison of the evocations in normal and substitution situation, thought EVOC software. The results showed central elements for the normal situation: health education, professional protection and treatment. For the substitution, were identified: the fear, prejudice and homosexuality, which with others were the probable elements of the mute zone. The method is important to make profound studies of social representations of the HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]