[Perception about the nursing practice in the psychosocial care centers]. / Percepção sobre a prática de enfermagem em centros de atenção psicossocial.

The practice of nursing in the psychosocial care centers in mental health is something made in the institutions daily from established interactions among professionals, patients, and the patient's family. This research is somewhat exploratory and has a qualitative approach. It aims to know the daily practice of professionals from Psychosocial Care Centers on daily practice of the nurse in this kind of work. The collected data were made by means of-semi-structured interviews. From the thematic analysis of the data, two themes appeared: the nurse establishes the first contact with the patients; that is, the nurse is the link between doctors and patients. The results show that the practice of nursing in mental health searches to construct inventive actions, establish affective ties, welcome the patients, and contradict the different way by which some uncommon people are seen the "insane" as a threat. It is a practice that emphasizes the meaning of life production, that is, the increase of the patient's capacity to establish social exchanges, giving him/her greater autonomy.

[Madness in freedom: experiences in Crato-CE (1930-1970)]. / Loucura em liberdade: vivências e convivências em Crato-CE (1930-1970).

This study aims at identifying the most meaningful characters in the social imaginary and narrating its experience. This is a social-historical study in which oral (semi-structured interviews) and written documental sources were used. The interpretation of data was based on the archeological studies by Foucault on the history of madness and on other authors who worked with the themes: psychiatric madness and psychiatric reform. The narration of madness in the scenery of Crato indicates the existence of a multiplicity that reveals diversity, transcending the traditional psychiatric paradigm, which has as its principle the idea that the "mad person" should be isolated from society. We expect that this study contribute to the debate of nursing professional in the field of psychiatric and mental health.

[Mental health: rebuilding knowledge in nursing]. / Saúde mental: reconstruindo saberes em enfermagem.

The insane asylum, in spite of being criticized, reformed or even denied, is still a predominant habit in taking care of people with mental disturbances. That habit has as its basic principle the isolation of the mental sick, contradicting all the possibilities of assistance centered in an ethical humanism. This essay tries to interpret the institutionalization of the asylum, psychiatry, mental sickness and also the process of psychiatry reform, searching to contribute to all the reflections about uninstitutionalization, nursing knowledge and practice in mental health.