BIOMEDICINE, NEOLIBERALISM AND THE MEDICALIZATION OF CHILDHOOD: PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AS A CONTESTED TERRITORY

Abstract

There has been a significant increase in psychiatric diagnoses in Brazil, particularly among children, reflecting a process that has been termed the medicalization of childhood. The growing trend of referring children to health services due to behavioral complaints in school settings and the search for diagnostic labels makes this a relevant issue for study in the field of public health. Thus, the present study aims to understand how the influence of biomedical and neoliberal rationalities in Primary Health Care (PHC) shapes current approaches to conceiving and caring for children, with implications for health outcomes and subjectivity. To this end, the research began with a narrative literature review. It is concluded that PHC constitutes a territory of tension between the principles of the SUS and the hegemony of biomedical rationality, which, linked to neoliberal ideology, tends to individualize health issues and standardize bodies and behaviors. The centrality of diagnosis can lead to the co-optation of childhood experiences, reducing political and social issues to biological aspects. Therefore, it is important to reclaim the principles of the SUS for an expanded and contextualized clinical practice.