Abstract
This study investigates the everyday lives of six beneficiaries of the Programa de Volta para Casa (the “Back Home Program” - PVC) with the aim of analyzing its effects and identifying lessons that can be applied to help improve and ensure the continuity of the deinstitutionalization process in dialogue with the current political, social and economic reality. Using participant observation and narratives, we conducted a qualitative study in two cities that have been implementing the PVC over the last 15 years. The results were organized into the following core themes: the participants - who they are and how they live; the challenges of being back in the city; using money and the challenge of shifting towards social capital; and the guarantee of rights. The findings of the hermeneutic-dialectic analysis show that the beneficiaries have moved away from a situation of zero contractuality and ruptured affective relations towards one of access to goods and services, housing and free movement in public spaces, limited by urban violence, lack of money for leisure activities, aging, precarious housing conditions, and lack relations of trust and solidarity with ordinary people living in the neighborhood. Making the city an enabling environment and promoting actions in coordination with other sectors such as housing, income, employment, security and justice are steps of resistance in the face a regressive political, economic and social landscape.
Key words:
Deinstitutionalization; Mental health; Personal narrative; Citizen participation in science and technology