Experiência de profissionais de saúde em unidades prisionais localizadas em Cuiabá/MT

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the experience of health professionals working in prison units located in Cuiabá- Mato Grosso. The theoretical and methodological reference employed was the Phenomenology by Alfred Schütz, selecting from it the concepts concerning this research in order to adequate the approach we set ourselves. Our subject of study were the health professionals of three correctional facilities of Cuiabá. The techniques used were semi-structured interviews and observations, which took place from June to December 2013, with 25 professionals interviewed. The discussion and data analysis were organized based on the themes that emerged from the data, which allowed us to partially unveil the health professionals daily lives immersed in the prison context. This way we could identify and analyze the strategies elaborated to work in this tense and full of conflict atmosphere that builds the singularity of the place. The entry of the professionals in the prison system was marked with tension and fear situations, surpassing the satisfaction of a public contest approval. The entry did not follow a training logic, making the lack of knowledge about the prison unanimous among the subject. The health unit becomes something very peculiar for them because of the imposed characteristics of the prison environment, such the presence of warders, bars and handcuffs, which demarcates part of the particularity of this environment. The respondents demonstrated great disbelief about the socialization function, they also reveal contradiction relating to the inmates, sometimes they are a patient, sometimes a hazard, imposing mistrust and insecurity towards the professionals. We noticed that this unique routine influences the job to be done and many of the subject end up doing a different job than the initially proposed. The internal codes are learned by the professionals in an attempt to maintain communication with the prisoners. They also reveal that they perceived some behavioral changes affecting their lives. Thus, the daily lives of the health professionals gain unique shapes inside the prison.