Abstract
Fruit of the struggle of the medical profession and the interests of the State in resolving a serious public health question, the Bahian São João de Deus asylum for the alienated was inaugurated in June 1874, surrounded by the optimism and confidence of everyone involved. Meanwhile, its history would soon take an unexpected direction when the pregnancy and birth of an internee involved the Santa Casa de Misericórdia, the State and the press in an entangled web of interests and conflicts, revealing that the reality of an asylum institution was far from that imagined by its creators. At a time when Bahian psychiatry was beginning to take its first steps, the case produced serious doubts regarding the capacity of this medicine to wholly assume responsibility for the treatment of insanity.
Highlights
Fruit of the struggle of the medical profession and the interests of the State in resolving a serious public health question, the Bahian São João de Deus asylum for the alienated was inaugurated in June 1874, surrounded by the optimism and confidence of everyone involved
Its history would soon take an unexpected direction when the pregnancy and birth of an internee involved the Santa Casa de Misericórdia, the State and the press in an entangled web of interests and conflicts, revealing that the reality of an asylum institution was far from that imagined by its creators
At a time when Bahian psychiatry was beginning to take its first steps, the case produced serious doubts regarding the capacity of this medicine to wholly assume responsibility for the treatment of insanity
Summary
Recebido para publicação em maio de 2007. Fruto da luta da classe médica e dos interesses do Estado em resolver uma grave questão de saúde pública, o asilo de alienados baiano São João de Deus foi inaugurado em junho de 1874, cercado de otimismo e confiança por parte de todos os envolvidos. Entretanto sua história logo tomaria rumo inesperado quando a gravidez e o parto de uma interna envolveram a Santa Casa de Misericórdia, o Estado e a imprensa num emaranhado de interesses e conflitos, revelando que a realidade de uma instituição asilar estava muito longe das pretensões de seus idealizadores. No momento em que a psiquiatria baiana começava a dar seus primeiros passos, o caso lançou sérias dúvidas quanto à capacidade de essa medicina assumir integralmente a responsabilidade pelo tratamento da loucura.
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