OVERVIEW

The course aims to investigate the relationship between law, social norms, and deviance, also through the support of concrete examples concerning the legal and social professions directly involved in the processes of defining and governing the “abnormal.”

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

To know and to handle oneself in a critical way regarding the main paradigms of sociological description of deviance and criminality, as well as social control dispositives.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

In particular, the course aims to:

• provide an overview of the main sociological models for interpreting deviance in relation to law;
• investigate the mechanisms of social control and the marginalization of individuals;
• reflect on social and legal policies, as well as on intervention strategies.

In all three areas, critical and gender perspectives will be given particular emphasis.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired adequate knowledge and interpretative tools to critically analyze phenomena of deviance and social exclusion, and to design empirical research and interventions in this field.

TEACHING METHODS

• Lectures;
• Tutorials/small-group activities.

In addition, seminars on specific topics may be organized. These will aim to encourage classroom discussion, also with a view to helping students develop and improve their argumentative skills.

Students with valid certifications for Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), disabilities or other educational needs and having complied with Unige procedures (described here) who need compensatory measures to prepare the exams or during the exams are invited to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course to agree on any teaching methods that, in accordance with the teaching objectives, take into account individual learning styles. For requesting Unige services for students with disabilities and other information, please visit https://giurisprudenza.unige.it/serv_disabili. For further information, please visit https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa and contact the Department's disability liaison officer (isa.fanlo@unige.it).

Working students are also encouraged to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course to agree on any teaching methods that, in accordance with the teaching objectives, take into account individual learning styles.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Class lectures will address the following topics:

• The classical school: Enlightenment criminal legal thought;
• Theories of deviance: an overview;
• The origins of the sociology of deviance: moral statistics and positivist criminology;
• The functionalist model: theories of anomie and deviant subcultures;
• Critiques of functionalism: social learning theory and drift theory;
• The constructionist paradigm: the Chicago School of sociology, symbolic interactionism, and the labelling approach;
• The neo-classical and neo-positivist paradigms;
• Critical and gender perspectives.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textbooks and recommended reading materials for students attending:

- Notes made in the class;

- The reading materials indicated during the course;

- One of the following books by choice: C. Agnella (2025). Disciplinare la donna, disciplinare la società. Educare al genere attraverso un’istituzione totale. Giappichelli: Torino (il PDF in open access è scaricabile al seguente link: https://www.giappichelli.it/disciplinare-la-donna-disciplinare-la-societa-9791221114232); F. Vianello (a cura di) (2023). Maternità in pena. L'esecuzione penale delle donne con figli minori. Meltemi: Milano.

Textbooks and recommended reading materials for not attending students:

- F. Prina, Devianza e criminalità. Concetti, metodi di ricerca, cause, politiche, Carocci, Roma, 2019;

- One of the following books by choice: C. Agnella (2025). Disciplinare la donna, disciplinare la società. Educare al genere attraverso un’istituzione totale. Giappichelli: Torino (il PDF in open access è scaricabile al seguente link: https://www.giappichelli.it/disciplinare-la-donna-disciplinare-la-societa-9791221114232); F. Vianello (a cura di) (2023). Maternità in pena. L'esecuzione penale delle donne con figli minori. Meltemi: Milano.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The course will be held in the second semester of the academic year 2026-2027. More precise information will be provided on Aulaweb, to which students are invited to register regardless of attendance.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination is oral and consists of an interview aimed at assessing the candidates’ understanding and critical re-elaboration of the course contents, as well as their presentation, argumentative, and analytical skills, including their ability to establish connections between the various topics covered.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Attending students, whose level of learning and engagement will also be assessed throughout the course by means of small-group activities and thematic discussions, are expected to understand and critically re-elaborate the topics addressed in class and to present them orally with appropriate command of language.

Non-attending students are expected to understand and critically re-elaborate the issues discussed in the assigned readings and to present them orally with appropriate command of language.

Students having a valid certification of disability or Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) and having complied with Unige procedures (described here) may request the use of compensatory measures during the exams (e.g. additional time and/or concept maps). In any case, for further information, please contact the Department’s disability liaison: Isa.Fanlo@unige.it

FURTHER INFORMATION

Ask the professor for other information not included in the teaching schedule.