The main question of this article is: what is the place of psychopathological knowledge in governamental centers for psychosocial attention (CAPS) in Brazil, and what it might be. Such centers are located in neighborhoods to treat patients with severe mental disorders. In the article, consequences of the hegemony of descriptive psychopathology in clinical interventions at these services are analyzed, as well as the question of whether the psychopathology of the social being might be a tool in the treatment of such patients in their communities.
Autonomy; psychopathology of the social being; common sense psychopathology; psychosocial care