Introduction or preface

- The present study aims at investigating the social representation of child work in the press. According to the macro-hypothesis, there should be a stereotyped and negative representation of child work, that does not distinguish between legal and illegal works, between child work and adolescent work and, more generally, does not consider that in same cases work can be a training opportunity. 82 articles on child work, issued in the Italian press between 2003-2005 have been analysed with the software T-Lab, in terms of both content and discourse analysis. The results are only in part consistent with the main hypothesis, showing a problematic and multifaceted representation of child work with also positive elements, especially for what concerns the Catholic press.