This article analyzes psychiatric hospitalization of young patients from a contemporary social-subjective (rather than a psychopathological) perspective, following the trajectory of these youth prior to their admission. The study was conducted at the Center for Comprehensive Psychosocial Care for Children and Adolescents, São Pedro Psychiatric Hospital, in the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Recurrent traits in the trajectory of these youth expressed how the health care network functioned with them prior to their hospitalization, with a consistent pattern of socioeconomic deprivation, low schooling, and drug use. Another key aspect was the role of the court system in referring them for hospitalization, adhering to a kind of logic that punished both the youth and the services and paradoxically formed a strategy for access to health services.
Hospitalized Adolescent; Psychiatric Hospitals; Mental Disorders
