For Another Relationship between Madness and Crime: Possibilities from Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Over the last few centuries, in the Brazilian context, the most common practice in treating madness in conflict with the law has been institutionalization. Criminal imputability and compliance with security measures have become hegemonic legal determinations. Such measures imply the withdrawal of some fundamental rights and reduce the sociability potential of people considered to be unaccountable. In this sense, the objective of the work is to develop a theoretical and pragmatic critique of institutional treatment, using psychoanalysis as a way of thinking about another relationship between madness and crime. We understand that, from this field, it is possible to include rectification and subjective responsibility as horizons in legal treatment. Demonstrating in practice in the Brazilian context how it is possible to overcome the asylum model of treatment for people who, in a state of psychological distress, come into conflict with the law.