Costruire una riforma: operatori, amministratori, istituzione psichiatrica prima della "legge 180" (1968-1978)

This research project explores the changes in the Italian psychiatric institutions be- fore the crucial step of the reform law, the so-called "Law 180. In the first part of the essay the purpose of the research and methodological issues are defined and some key concepts are analyzed. In the second part of the study there is a reconstruction of the state of psychiatric care in the Italian post-war period, which is characterized by ultraconservative policies which continued up to the sixties. That stagnation ended when Franco Basaglia was appointed as chief director of the Psychiatric Hospital of Gorizia in 1961, when he began some experiments inspired by the model of the "Secteur" - of French origins - and "opened" some of the asylums. In 1968, follow- ing the approval of Law # 431, some amendments to the psychiatric legislation were approved. The period of those ten years in which the construction of the reform was totally rebuilt - is described in the third part of the work. This part focuses on the re- construction and analysis of some situations (Arezzo, Ferrara, Perugia, Terni,Trieste) where experiments were carried out that laid the basis for the transformation of the psychiatric institution. Mental health professionals and administrators contribute to the development of new models of care. Finally, it explores the legislative process leading to the approval of the reform.