Esclusione sociale e violenza istituzionale. Il tema della salute mentale in “Quale giustizia”

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relationship between mental health and law in the Italian reformist context in the decade of the seventies of the 20th century. The mutual agreement of the members of Magistratura democratica and Psichiatria democratica for the closure of psychiatric hospitals and judicial asylums for the criminally insane is analyzed through the reading of «Quale giustizia», juridical magazine committed to this and other campaigns: on the one hand articles of psychiatrists and lawyers, on the other some significant judicial reports. Here we want to highlight the effectiveness and the practical limitations of the use of the «law as a weapon» to advance legal and social reforms, through an appeal to the Constitution.

Keywords

• asylum issue
• law
• psychiatric hospitals
• psychiatrist
• «Quale giustizia»
• diritto
• ospedali psichiatrici
• psichiatria
• questione manicomiale