Abstract:
This study aims to retrieve the records of institutional practices towards children and adolescents hospitalized at the former Hospital Colônia de Neuropsiquiatria Infantil de Oliveira (HCNPO), in Minas Gerais, from 1931 to 1974. For that, a case study was made from the documentary analysis of primary and bibliographic sources on the institution and policies related to the care of madness. As it turns out, the health situation of the inmates was characterized by negligence and the violence of the asylum model, with poor hygiene conditions, few therapeutic activities and unsatisfactory socialization measures for the children. In conclusion, HCNPO failed to care for, protect and stimulate the development of these subjects, targets of policies that justified social intervention on their bodies, both as “minors” and as “mad”.
Key words:
Colony Hospital for Child Neuropsychiatry of Oliveira; Institutionalized Child; Child Care; Psychiatric Hospitals; Case Study