Destinos de crianças: estudo sobre as internações de crianças e adolescentes em Hospital Público Psiquiátrico

Abstract

This dissertation s main objective is to contribute to the advancement of the field of mental health for children and adolescents. This study aims to investigate the causes of the continuation of the practice of hospitalization of children and adolescents in psychiatric hospitals in the state of São Paulo despite the advances of Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. CAISM Philippe Pinel was chosen as the main research site, due to its status as a reference institution for the hospitalization of children and adolescents in the state of São Paulo. Through medical records, we investigated the profile of admissions between January 2005 and December 2009. The methodological strategies were developed in order to grasp the nuances of children and adolescents hospitalized during this period, and highlight their paths to institutional admission. Based on the data analyzed, we could make some key inferences about the functioning of the mental health field for children and adolescents. In our study, we observed that children and teenagers are sent to institutions in two ways: either through health services, or by court order. After a comparative analysis between these two forms of routing, we found that the institutionalization via court order, in many cases, occur in circumstances that contradict the norms of Psychiatric Reform and the Statute of Children and Adolescents. We conclude that new practices and policies in the field of mental health must prioritize transversal actions between different sectors of governmental institutions.