Unit PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK BEHAVIOR
- Course
- Investigation and security sciences
- Study-unit Code
- GP004300
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Monia Vagni
- Teachers
-
- Monia Vagni
- Hours
- 36 ore - Monia Vagni
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline antropologiche, storico-geografiche e psico-pedagogiche
- Sector
- M-PSI/01
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The course will address the main theories of criminology and psychology on deviance, which are useful for understanding and explaining risky behaviors that can constitute manifestations of deviance (i.e., abnormal behavior) and/or criminal conduct. This will be done by outlining risk and protective factors, both internal and external, i.e., those related to the psychological and social environment. Therefore, both personality-related and social and cultural factors of criminal and deviant behavior will be examined.
Particular attention will be given to the topic of violence in domestic relationships: sexual abuse, mistreatment, and even family homicides, with a focus on victim testimony and protection interventions. The final section of the course will address the topic of reducing recidivism through accountability programs and treatments, including within prison.
The main objective of the course is to provide advanced knowledge of some basic concepts of social psychology, forensic psychology, and criminology, applied in a legal and judicial context. The program aims to illustrate an integrated assessment and intervention approach, to understand the complexity of phenomena related to deviance. - Reference texts
- 1) Vagni M., Giostra V. Psicologia Giuridica. McGraw Hill.
book in press
2) Ferracuti, Petrini e Sartori. Psichiatria e Psicologia Forensi. Edra Editore (the sections to do will be indicated) - Educational objectives
- An overview of the main social and criminological theories, including the most recent ones that adopt an interdisciplinary approach.
The specificities of different types of crime and deviance. A distinction will be made between occasional deviance and a full-fledged criminal career, with an analysis of personal factors, personality traits, contextual factors, and forms of membership in subcultures.
The various forms of deviance will be addressed: individual, group, organized, female, and juvenile. The possible responses that society offers in terms of prevention and control will also be analyzed: from social interventions to legal and regulatory ones.
Particular importance will also be given to the assessment role that psychologists and criminologists are called upon to play regarding the offender and the factors of social danger, both internal and external.
Various forms of crime will be covered, such as intimate partner violence, victim testimony, the risk of false confessions, the treatment of sex offenders, detention, and suggestibility, outlining the forensic psychopathology and criminodynamic factors underlying violent and criminal behavior.
The following topics will be addressed:
Introduction to psychological deviance
Deviance
Testimony and social influence factors
Suggestibility
Imputability
A brief overview of forensic psychopathology
The treatment of sex offenders
Gender-based violence
Expert assessments
False confessions
The treatment of perpetrators
The risk of prejudice and bias in judicial proceedings - Prerequisites
- basic knowledge of criminology
- Teaching methods
- Classes will be held face-to-face and online for authorized students. Case studies will be illustrated and documents examined to help understand the true extent of the phenomenon. interventions by experts may be foreseen
- Learning verification modality
- The exam will consist of a written test with 31 multiple-choice questions. The time limit for completion is 25 minutes. Each question will be worth 1 point. No points will be deducted for errors.
- Extended program
- The program will begin with a discussion of deviance, to understand the social and psychological factors that can lead to occasional crime and its stabilization. Specific topics will be addressed, including homicide and the evaluation of its perpetrator; social dangerousness factors, femicide, gender-based violence, and violence in romantic relationships; social factors that can lead perpetrators and witnesses to false confessions; and the key aspects of psychological and criminological treatment of offenders and the reduction of recidivism.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- 3