32462 - Foundations of Welfare System Law

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will: - understand the legal foundations of the welfare field necessary for competently designing educational and training interventions; - be able to plan, initiate exchanges, and share knowledge with local social intervention agencies that address disadvantage; - be able to provide relevant contributions to planning based on the basic legal knowledge acquired; - be familiar with the main applications, IT tools, and databases in the field of welfare law; - be familiar with the main sources of information for the topics covered in the course and be able to analyze them comparatively.

Course contents

The overall objective of the course is to provide students with the conceptual and methodological foundations for understanding and analyzing welfare systems, their transformations, and future development prospects.

Part of the lectures will be dedicated to illustrating and analyzing the "special" needs of individuals, families, and groups, and the related responses that our legal system can offer.

To enable students to understand the mechanisms underlying the functioning of different types of social protection interventions, considerable space will also be devoted to an in-depth study of the main principles of administrative and private law.

Finally, there will be food for thought on some of the most complex and debated legal issues regarding the protection of individuals and their dignity (from the medical treatment of psychiatric patients to euthanasia, from the use of robotics to human-machine hybridization).

Readings/Bibliography

For exam preparation, we recommend the following textbooks, in addition to the course materials distributed during class:

- for the section on welfare systems: R. DI SANTO (ed.), Dalla comunità alla prossimità: le nuove sfide del welfare, Maggioli, 2022;

- for the section on social services: E. CODINI, A. FOSSATI, S.A. FREGO LUPPI, Manuale di diritto dei servizi sociali, Giappichelli, 2019, limited to Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X of Part II;

- for the section on administrative law: D. SORACE, S. TORRICELLI, Diritto delle amministrazioni pubbliche, il Mulino, 2023, limited to Chapters I, II, IV, V, X, XI, and XII;

- for the private law section: F. GALGANO, Diritto privato, CEDAM, 2022, limited to chapters I, IV, XII, XIX, and XLI.

The course also includes specific in-depth studies of a sectoral nature: one relating to the difficult challenge of protecting and enhancing individual rights and freedoms in a context of continuous and progressive social and technological change, the other on the care of psychiatric patients. For these, the following texts are recommended:

- L. DIMASI, S. MARZOT (eds.), Welfare state: scenari futuri e criticità irrisolte delle politiche sociali e socio-sanitarie in Italia, Bologna University Press, 2024;

- L. DIMASI, I diritti "ipermoderni". Sfide e cambiamenti nell'era del costituzionalismo digitale, Bologna University Press, 2023;

- L. DIMASI, Il diritto della psiche, Aracne, 2018.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be delivered primarily through lectures, supported by slides.

Part of the course will be dedicated to dialogue and debate with students, who will have the opportunity to actively participate, with their own contributions and reflections, throughout the course.

Practical simulations and in-depth seminars complement the teaching methodology.

A field trip to a social cooperative will also be organized.

Assessment methods

The final exam will consist of an oral examination designed to assess the student's knowledge of the topics covered in class.

Specifically, each student will be asked to answer three questions.

Those who wish may also take the final exam in an alternative ("mixed") format. This consists of an oral presentation, either individually or in a group, in the classroom, of a study and in-depth study project on one or more topics chosen from those included in the course content.

For students who choose this format, the oral exam will be limited to the portion of the program not related to the topics previously specifically covered.

The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

- knowledge of institutional profiles;

- ability to analyze and elaborate on the acquired knowledge;

- ability to make connections between the different parts of the program;

- ability to develop critical arguments;

- articulation of the presentation;

- use of technical language.

By way of example, the final grade will be based on the following criteria:

- a grade from 18 to 21 will be awarded for sufficient or slightly more than sufficient preparation on the topics covered, poor critical thinking, and difficulty using technical legal language;

- a grade from 22 to 25 will be awarded for fair or fairly good preparation on the topics covered, adequate critical thinking, and correct use of technical legal language;

- a grade from 26 to 29 will be awarded for good preparation, strong critical thinking, and mastery of technical legal language;

- a grade from 30 to 30 with honors will be awarded for substantially comprehensive preparation, excellent critical thinking, and full mastery of technical legal language.

Thesis

Thesis assignment will be made upon formal request from the student (for example, by email), followed by an exploratory interview with the instructor, who will evaluate the originality of the chosen topic and its relevance to the course topics.

Teaching tools

During the course, in-depth seminars will be held, the dates of which will be announced in class.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or disabilities: please contact the relevant University office in advance (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it). The University Office will advise interested students of any accommodations, which must be submitted to the instructor for approval 15 days in advance, who will assess their suitability in relation to the course's learning objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Dimasi