37770 - Mafie and Antimafia

Learning outcomes

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

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 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.

Course contents

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.

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 dispensation relating to the first module of the course will be published on the portal http://iol.unibo.it/ by the end of the course;

- 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

- Dispensations for the current academic year, which will be available by the end of the year on the portal http://iol.unibo.it/ .

- The text "Cose di Cosa Nostra" by Giovanni Falcone in collaboration with Marcelle Padovani, Rizzoli, Milan, 1991.

- chapters 1,2,3,4 Pellegrini S., 2018, L'impresa grigia. Le infiltrazioni mafiose nell'economia legale. Un'analisi sociologico giuridica, Ediesse.

Teaching methods

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 profit examination will be held exclusively in oral form with the aim of verifying the adequate acquisition of knowledge by the student according to the course objectives. The verification of the learning will take place through an interview on the texts indicated in the bibliography.

The exam grade will take into account the student's knowledge of the texts envisaged, the language (articulation and accuracy of the exposure), and the student's reasoning and argumentation during the interview.

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

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