Infância e reforma psiquiátrica no contexto da saúde mental no estado do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the relationships that childhood produces in the field of Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. The recognition of the scarcity of publications in this area and the scenario of lack of assistance to children and adolescents in public health policies confirm a historical gap of neglect and negligence as a guideline in policy agendas. Thus, this study is justified by the gap between the problems of children and adolescents mental health and articulated services from different public policies capable of producing interventions to prevent and promote mental health for this population. The guiding question of the thesis was to understand the notions of childhood guided by professionals of Psychology that work in Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Atention Centers (Capsi) in Rio Grande do Sul (RS). We understand Capsi as strategic devices of attention in mental health and articulators of care actions in intra and extra-sectoral processes. Thus, the general objective of this study focused on understanding and analyzing the conceptions of childhood and care based on the work practices of Capsi. We understand that the notion of childhood as an object of knowledge of science is recent and presents different vertices of analysability. The specific objectives aimed to historically investigate the notions of childhood and mental health care and their relationship with psychiatric knowledge in the asylum’s scope; to understand how childhood is becoming a specific knowledge in the field of mental health in RS in interface with psychological knowledge; to map how mental health care networks for children and adolescentes are configured in different cities of RS and to know care practices of Psychology professionals in the Capsi. In order to have answers to these objectives, a qualitative exploratory ethnographic research was carried out with nine female psychologists working at Capsi of five cities in RS. We carried out participant observations and semi-structured interviews in the services to understand the specificities of the places and the work of these professionals. The analysis of the data was systematized from Thematic Analysis, proposed by Minayo, since it allows analyzing different contexts from signifiers, sociological structures of statements articulated to psychosocial processes and to the social and cultural context. The results indicate that there is an ambivalence in the notion of childhood in the professionals concerning the demands of the service, what sometimes is perceived in a romanticized and idealized perspective of childhood, and sometimes in a more contextual and social view. Although there are advances in children and adolescents mental health policies, the precariousness of the network and the numerous obstacles in the construction of inter-sectoral interventions are observed. Thus, this research makes a critical reflection on this scenario and points out some ways to face these challenges.