37770 - Mafie and Antimafia

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Employment and Business Relations Consultant (cod. 9230)

    Also valid for Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Law (cod. 9232)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to train in the student a technical, scientific and social knowledge about the complex phenomenon of mafia.

Course contents

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired knowledge on the sociological, historical and legal aspects of the mafia phenomenon as a whole and developed the ability to identify the peculiar traits of mafia-type organised crime. The course will be structured in two modules: the first module of 20 hours, will be developed in frontal lessons; the second module of 28 hours, will be structured in seminar meetings.

The aim of the first module is to deepen the historical aspects of the phenomenon, with particular attention to the evolution of the various types of criminal organizations and the anti-Mafia movement, and to analyze the interrelations with the economic, political and cultural system. Particular attention will be paid to understanding the context of the investigations that led to the maxiprocess and the subsequent events that led to the 1992/1993 massacres, and to the analysis of the infiltration of organised crime into the legal economy. Finally, the fundamental knowledge of the regulations against the mafia phenomenon will be provided.

In the second module, through seminar meetings with experts, the aim is to deepen specific and contemporary aspects of the mafia phenomenon, and to allow students to develop the capacity for critical analysis of the same.

 

In the first module, the theme of mafias will be dealt with from a triple perspective:
1) Sociological: the concept of the mafia from the sociological point of view; interrelations with the economic, political and cultural systems;

2) Historical:
a) From a historical-social point of view: dwelling on the social conditions which have favoured the birth and expansion of the mafia phenomenon in the various territorial realities: in Sicily, cosa nostra, in Calabria, the 'ndrangheta, in Campania, the camorra, in Puglia, the sacred united crown. The presuppositions which led these phenomena to expand into so-called "non-traditional zones" will also be analyzed, as well as the ties and relations which have been created between the Italian mafias and the foreign mafias.
b) From a socio-legal point of view: dwelling on the mafia as a criminal phenomenon, the dynamics of the grey zone and of the mafia enterprise, as well as the role of the professionals and the expansion in non-traditional contexts and in the legal economy;

3) Legal:
a) Analyzing the main lines of the anti-mafia legislation as an instrument of repression of organized crime: from the juridical path which has led to the definition of the criminal case, to the instruments of attack on the mafia patrimonies, up to the special prison measures.
b) Drawing on the legislative instruments oriented towards a rewarding function of the law, see the regulations on the collaborators of justice, or of social recovery of the mafia goods, see the social re-use of the goods confiscated from the organized crime.

The second module will invite the major representatives of judicial and social anti-mafia in order to promote a meeting between students and those who daily face and stem the phenomenon of organized crime. Meetings of about three hours each will consist of a guest report followed by a debate.

The detailed schedule of the meetings will be communicated at the beginning of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

Students of law:

The booklet relating to the first module of the course will be available for download from the teaching resources platform by the end of the course (NB: students are encouraged to download the latest updated version of the booklet). The course material can be downloaded using the password; this will be provided to those attending the course and released by email request to other students who have included the subject in their study plan.

- Pellegrini S., 2018, L'impresa grigia. Le infiltrazioni mafiose nell'economia legale. Un'analisi sociologico giuridica, Ediesse.

For further information please refer to the catalogue:

- the reports of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the phenomenon of mafias and other criminal associations, including foreign ones, available at the following link: http://parlamento17.camera.it/156

- the six-monthly reports of the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate available at the following link: http://direzioneinvestigativaantimafia.interno.gov.it/page/relazioni_semestrali.html

Information for foreign students participating in LLP (Socrates - Erasmus) mobility programmes

Due to the contingent situation of difficulty in finding examination texts for ERASMUS students who are not in Italy,  the examination programme for the Mafie e Antimafia course will be the course booklet that can be downloaded from the platform dedicated to teaching resources. Erasmus students are invited to attend lectures to facilitate their understanding of the subject.

Teaching methods

The course foresees frontal lessons, but the way in which the course is delivered will be determined by the decisions of the University bodies regarding the COVID-19 emergency.

The course includes in the I module frontal lessons, in which will be used original audio-visual and presentation of slides.

Module II includes seminar meetings. An initial report by the guest will be followed by a discussion with the class that, through the acquisition of the cognitive tools in the first part of the course, will be able to confront with the same on the most problematic issues.

During the didactic activity students will be invited through a distribution list dedicated to conferences, debates, presentations of books about the topics of the course.

Lessons will be held in the second semester. Students are invited to consult the website www.giuri.unibo.it for the timetable and location of the lessons.

During the teaching activity, students will be invited through a distribution list dedicated to lectures, debates and book presentations concerning the subjects of the course.

Assessment methods

The examination will be conducted exclusively in oral form with the aim of verifying the adequate acquisition of knowledge by the student in accordance with the course objectives. Learning will be assessed by means of an interview with the lecturer and the collaborators of the chair, on the topics covered by the course programme.

The exam grade will take into account the following aspects

- knowledge of institutional profiles

- ability to analyse case law and doctrinal orientations;

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

- ability to develop critical arguments;

- articulation of the exposition;

- accuracy of presentation;

- accuracy in the use of context-specific terminology.

Specifically, the following assessment criteria will be taken into account to assign the final mark, which will be expressed in thirtieths:

- knowledge and understanding of the notions and principles of the subject and of the legal concepts on which the questions focus, and the level of in-depth study about these aspects (50%);

- ability to make connections between the different parts of the programme, ability to critically analyse the topics covered in the examination question and ability to apply them to concrete cases (20%);

- appropriate use of sociological, technical and legal vocabulary, ability to expound on the topic of the questions posed, ability to analyse and evaluate relevant sources and acquisition of the study method (30%).

Entry on the examination lists will be made exclusively using the computer system of Almaesami. 


!!!!!! For the organisation of exams from 1 June 2022, please refer to the NOTICE section of the teacher's institutional page at the following link: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/stefania.pellegrini/avvisi

Degree theses

Students who intend to ask for a thesis in one of the disciplines related to the chair are asked to go to a reception interview, the only way to formalize the assignment of the final thesis, not less than 5 months in the case of triennialists, 8 months before in the case of magistrals. Formal admission to the thesis work is conditional on the presentation of an initial index accompanied by an essential bibliography on the theme proposed by the student or suggested by the teacher and/or his/her collaborators. Graduates will receive a detailed handbook for the preparation of their thesis.

The theses in "Mafia and Anti-mafia" will be assigned in priority to those who have passed the examination of Sociology of Law.

Teaching tools

In support of the teaching activity they will be used:

- original documents

- audio-visual documents

- slides in Power Point.

The distribution lists will be used for communications and distribution of events/initiatives on the subject of the course. At the beginning of the course students will be given the name of the list and the access password.

Students who, for reasons dependent on disabilities or specific learning disorders (DSAs), need compensatory tools can communicate their needs to the Teacher in order to be addressed to the contacts and agree on the most appropriate measures.

Office hours

See the website of Stefania Pellegrini

SDGs

Peace, justice and strong institutions Partnerships for the goals

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.