A história desvelada no Juquery: Assistência psiquiátrica intramuros na ditadura cívico-militar

Abstract

Objective: To unveil the unofficial history of psychiatric care at the time of the civic-military dictatorship. Methods: This is a descriptive, exploratory, investigative, qualitative study that uses content analysis. Interviews were conducted with former employees of the psychiatric hospital Hospicío do Juquery. Two interviews were registered, and the others recorded and transcribed. Results: Processes involving care were accompanied by the use of violence, encouraged by the dynamics of the institution. Like the policy at the time, the unveiled psychiatric care points to rigid, authoritarian rules, and to the annihilation of forms of subjectivity, a true process of reification of individuals. A strong relationship between the violence practiced and the therapy involving knowledge/scientific power was noted. Conclusion: The state should be responsible for having spread rampant repression through its ideological and repressive apparatus, such as the Hospício. Analyzing the real facts that were concealed by the official history promotes understanding in an attempt to avoid the repetition of the violent practices and the dehumanization presented there.