Social inclusion and exclusion: the social representations of mental health professionals

The Centros de Atencao Psicossocial (CAPS - Psychosocial Care Centers) propose to develop social inclusion actions for people with mental disorders. However, difficulties are verified concerning practices driven by this objective. In this article we present research data as a contribution to encourage reflections on this topic. The object of this study are the social representations of mental health professionals regarding social inclusion practices, and the guiding concepts are psychosocial rehabilitation and the Italian deinstitutionalization. The data were submitted to discourse analysis and to analyze the resulting empirical category - conceptions on social inclusion and exclusion -, social representation, according to Minayo, was utilized. The discourses revealed concordant conceptions with psychosocial rehabilitation principles, such as the right to exercise citizenship and insertion in the workforce; and others in disagreement, like considering CAPS as a space of social inclusion in itself, which limits the development of further practices with this purpose.