Deinstitutionalization and mental health of the deprived of liberty with mental disorders: the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil experience

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents an experience report on the supervision of deinstitutionalization of the prison system through the articulation of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS) conducted from 2014 to 2021 within the Superintendence of Mental Health/Municipal Health Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro. This work of deinstitutionalizing people deprived of liberty with mental health problems consists of actions at the exit and entrance doors of the prison system and actions for the care of unimputable and imputable people with mental disorders. In the light of the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform, formalized by Law No. 10,216/2001, we aim to present an approach to this process counting on the possibilities of building care policies for insane offenders that are not punitive or segregating. The practical results of this work include more significant participation of the network in the construction of care for insane offenders, elaborating policies that avoid the prison career or reduce the asylum time in the penal system, and understanding that security measures must always have an outpatient nature.