Law, madness and literature: the antiasylum movement and the legal developments in the light of Law 10.216/2001 and Resolution n. 487/2023 of the National Council of Justice

Abstract

This article deals with how literature and law can understand the world of madness and the existing legal reflexes. For this, Law 10.216/2001 and CNJ Resolution n. 487/2023 will be analyzed, in addition to the works "The Alienist" by Machado de Assis and "Brazilian Holocaust" by Daniela Arbex and Foucault's critical view on the subject of madness, power, labeling and marginalization by legal and psychiatric institutions. The objective of the study is the rights of people with mental disorders, addressing the criminal imputability, that is, the inability of individuals with mental illnesses to understand their actions, which despite the advances of the Psychiatric Reform, there is a stagnation in the treatment and understanding of individuals with mental disorders involved in crimes. Stigmatization and marginalization continue to indicate the need for in-depth interdisciplinary reflection. Thus, through research in doctrine, articles and journals, this article aims to contribute in the field of study between Criminal Law and mental health to bring new perspectives when talking about the unaccountable agent, characterizing an exploratory research, of bibliographic review.