ENFERMEDAD MENTAL Y PRISIÓN: ANÁLISIS DE LA SITUACIÓN PENAL Y PENITENCIARIA DE LAS PERSONAS CON TRASTORNO MENTAL GRAVE (TMG). (Spanish)

The psychiatric reform that led to the closure of mental asylums aimed to replace their segregationist approach to mental illness with community-based alternatives. Yet the high prevalence of individuals suffering from SMD in prisons suggests that their segregation has now been shifted to the penitentiary system. An analysis of documentary, bibliographical and jurisprudential sources shows that the current framework is shaped by well-intentioned but constrained prison staff, who seek to remedy the lack of resources and the poor administrative coordination by implementing specific treatment and intervention programs; as well as by the unresponsiveness of the regional autonomous governments, who have resisted the integration of inmates with SMD within their broader mental health services, significantly limiting their access to treatment during and after their conviction; and by harsh a judicial system, that seems excessively inclined in favor of the internment of individuals with SMD, independently of their liability to stand trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La reforma psiquiátrica que acabó con los manicomios pretendía sustituir los planteamientos segregacionistas en el tratamiento de la enfermedad mental por un enfoque comunitario, pero las altas tasas de prevalencia de personas con TMG en prisiones indican que su segregación se produce ahora en el sistema carcelario. Las fuentes documentales, bibliográficas y jurisprudenciales consultadas parecen demostrar que el abordaje actual de esta problemática se caracteriza por el voluntarismo del personal de instituciones penitenciarias (que intenta paliar la escasez de recursos y la descoordinación entre administraciones implementando programas de tratamiento e intervención específicos), la indolencia de las comunidades autónomas (que se resisten a integrar la asistencia sanitaria de estas personas en sus respectivos servicios de salud mental, lo que perjudica gravemente su atención penitenciaria y post-penitenciaria), y la severidad de los aplicadores de los órganos judiciales (que parecen excesivamente proclives al internamiento de estas personas, ya sean o no declaradas inimputables). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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