La presente ricerca focalizza l’attenzione ad un approccio sociologico alla resilienza ai disastri. Nello specifico si vuole esplorare le relazioni sociali, che si sviluppano in un contesto di disastro naturale fra la popolazione colpita e i volontari di protezione civile. Gli ambiti di ricerca sono costituti dagli ultimi tre drammatici terremoti italiani: Umbria – Marche (1997), Molise (2002) e Abruzzo (2009). Nella prima parte della tesi si presentano le definizioni dei concetti fondamentali della sociologia dei disastri, un’analisi della letteratura presente per la tematica della resilienza nell’ambito delle scienze umane e sociali e l’organizzazione del sistema di protezione civile e difesa civile in Italia. In riferimento alla parte empirica, sono state raccolte importanti ed interessanti informazioni circa il possibile legame sociale fra volontari di protezione civile e popolazione colpita dai terremoti attraverso differenti metodologie di ricerca come le interviste semi strutturate agli esperti di protezione civile, un questionario on line per tutti i volontari di protezione civile ed i racconti di vita per la popolazione colpita dal terremoto. La ricerca conduce a interessanti risultati per la resilienza ai disastri in ambito sociologico e a suoi possibili sviluppi futuri. / The present research focalizes the attention on a sociological approach to disaster resilience. Specifically it would explore the social relationships established in a context of natural disaster and between population affected by natural disaster and civil protection volunteers. The research fieldworks are represented by last three dramatic Italian earthquakes: Umbria – Marche (1997), Molise (2002) e Abruzzo (2009). In the first part of the thesis will be presented the definitions of the fundamental concepts for the sociology of disasters, a literature review about the topic of disaster resilient presents within human and social science context and the organization of civil protection system and civil defence in Italy. Referring to the empirical part, there were collected important and interesting information about the possible social tie between civil protection volunteers and population affected by earthquakes through different methodologies of research as semi structured interviews to the civil protection experts, an on line questionnaire for all civil protection volunteers and life stories for population affected by earthquake. The research guides for interesting findings for disaster resilience within a sociological context and for its future possible developments.

La ricerca si pone l’obiettivo di indagare una nuova e sperimentale forma di intervento di accoglienza per richiedenti asilo e titolari di protezione internazionale e umanitaria rappresentata dall’accoglienza in famiglia di persone adulte straniere. Lo strumento dell’accoglienza in famiglia per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati rientra in un campo multidisciplinare non ancora approfondito a livello teorico sia rispetto ai riferimenti scientifici che ne hanno alimentato l’ideazione e la riflessione progettuale sia a livello di pratiche professionali di lavoro sociale. In questa ricerca, costruita attraverso un intreccio di strumenti qualitativi, si vuole contribuire a ricostruire questi aspetti non ancora formalizzati che lo contraddistinguono e esplorare le dimensioni dell’integrazione sulle quali l’accoglienza in famiglia va ad agire. La peculiarità di tale esperienza risiede nella partecipazione di quattro soggetti differenti (pubblica amministrazione, terzo settore, famiglie e beneficiari) che hanno interagito tra loro, attivando dinamiche di collaborazione integrate con il territorio, sottolineando la valenza bidirezionale dei processi di integrazione nella vita quotidiana. Per fare ciò lo studio di caso si è concentrato sul progetto “Rifugiato in famiglia” del Comune di Milano, implementato successivamente alla nascita di altre esperienze simili all’estero e sul territorio italiano, che verranno approfondite al fine di meglio comprendere questo particolare intervento. / The research focuses on a new and experimental form of reception for asylum seekers and holders of international and humanitarian protection: hosting foreign adults in family. The intervention of hosting refugees in family is part of a multidisciplinary field that has not yet been investigated at a theoretical level, either in relation to the scientific references that nurtured design conception and reflection both at the level of professional social work practices. In this research, built through the aid of different qualitative methods, the aim is to contribute to reconstructing these not yet formalized aspects and to explore the dimensions of integration on which the reception in family works. The peculiarity of this experience lies in the participation of four different subjects (public administration, third sector, families and beneficiaries) interacting each other, activating integrated collaboration dynamics with the territory, underlining the bidirectional value of the integration processes in everyday life. In order to achieve this, the case study focused on the "Rifugiato in Famiglia” (Refugee in Family) project of the Municipality of Milan, implemented after the birth of other similar experiences abroad and in Italy, which will be analyzed in order to better understand this particular intervention.

La famiglia nell'attualità è attraversata da cambiamenti che stanno trasformando le fondamenta della identità personale, gli assiomi della vita quotidiana. Il caso della famiglia che ha attraversato una rottura ed è contrassegnata da separazione e divorzio, solleva un gran numero di questioni umane e sociali e origina diverse transizioni, che sono state al centro dell'approfondimento oggetto di questa tesi dottorale, condotto su un campione di giovani adulti italiani. Essa mostra, nella fattispecie attraverso le peculiari caratteristiche della ricerca qualitativa, i tratti salienti di specifici metodi visuali, denominati "Family map" e "Life line". Essi hanno contribuito a definire la struttura, il posizionamento relazionale dei membri della famiglia, le stesse relazioni tra essi, nonchè di concettualizzare chi "appartiene" a una famiglia che ha attraversato un cambiamento, una transizione, che porta dunque con sè un corredo di eventi correlati. L'intervistato ha partecipato di volta in volta secondo una modalità (inter)attiva e ha descritto graficamente all'interno delle quattro specifiche sezioni ed i cerchi concentrici della mappa e poi lungo la linea, quali relazioni e fatti sono più o meno importanti. L'intervistatore ha potuto rivolgere domande volte ad acquisire informazioni su alcuni processi di cambiamento e la prospettiva peculiare di tale cambiamento, così come percepita da ciascun attore, ad esempio in riferimento ad eventi passati o presenti. Attraverso lo specifico snodarsi grafico dei supporti - allo sesso tempo fornendo un inquadramento consistente di dati- questo lavoro ha gettato luce su cosa le relazioni familiari, gli eventi e le rappresentazioni configurano nella percezione della persona coinvolta. La scommessa posta attraverso l'uso di questi metodi visuali è quella di continuare a concepire gli individui in termini di approccio relazionale, attraverso l'interdipendenza con il sè, l'altro da sè e il mondo, lungo tutto il corso della propria esistenza. Un grande contributo di questo strumento sui generis è che ha aperto le porte a numerose altre domande che stimolano la ricerca di risposte e la stessa futura ricerca riguardante i figli di separati. / Many changes are affecting the family today, transforming the foundations of self-identity, which are the core models for everyday personal life. The situation of family disruption, such as separation and divorce, raises either a number of human and social issues, and transitions which deserved to be better understood in this PhD thesis, being carried out on a sample of young Italian adults. It shows in the form of qualitative research the main features of specific visual methods, the Family map and Life line. They contributed to define the structure, the positions of family members, the relationships between them and conceptualize who belongs to a family that has changed, with crucial events related. The interviewee has been actively identifying and describing graphically (within the four sections and the concentric circles of the map and along the line) which relations and facts are more or less relevant. The interviewer could ask questions in order to get some processes of change and the actors’ own perception of such change, e.g. with reference to current state or past events. Along a specific visual development of the graphs -while providing a helpful framework- this research throwed some light on what family relationships, events and representations are on the perception of the person involved. The challenge posed for this visual methods is to continue to conceive of individuals in terms of relational approach, through the interdependence with self, others, and the world during the course of life. A great contribution of this tool sui generis is that it opened the door to numerous additional questions concerning children of divorce, that need answers and further research.

In this work, moving back and forth along complementary perspectives, I aim to provide an in-depth analysis of the social stratification of eating and feeding practices in an Italian context, with a special focus on the school canteen as a possible enhancer of children’s dietary compliance. Although the thesis cannot be read as a single monograph, the fil rouge that runs through the chapters presents new insights on the ways eating and feeding are organised, regulated, differentiated, and reproduced in Italy by adults and children. In fact, each chapter reads as an autonomous contribution, accompanied by a specific literature review, that distinctively adds to a branch of the research on food sociology, from health to consumption passing through childhood. Nevertheless, this does not imply that the chapters are disconnected, and the reader will often find cross references throughout the manuscript. The thesis is constructed on two different blocks, divided by methodology, but held together by the first chapter, in which I discuss the socio-philosophical foundation of the research. Here I initially draw from Bourdieu’s practice theory to discuss the theoretical and methodological foundations of the thesis, and I subsequently examine the concepts of eating and feeding practices, eventually outlining the contribution of each empirical chapter. Therefore, the first block seeks to identify theoretically informed empirical regularities using Bourdieu’s (2011) theory of capitals, and its adaptation to health behaviours as proposed by Abel (2007; 2008). This part aims to ‘quantify’ how capital constrictions shape food consumption and beyond. Chapter 2, focusing on gender differences in health behaviours among adults (Courtenay, 2000), analyses the determinants of dietary compliance, drinking behaviour and smoking, and how gender differentials change depending on the respondent’s levels of cultural capital. Chapter 3, however, which paves the way for the subsequent ethnography, focuses on the determinants of dietary compliance among Italian schoolchildren, and specifically on the role of the school canteen as an equaliser that can mitigate health inequalities by improving the diet of most disadvantaged children. In the second block, I focus on eating and feeding practices as social constructions. This part of the work allows me to go behind and beyond the empirical regularities shown in the previous chapters. Behind, because qualitative data provide an opportunity to consider the epistemological foundations and the political implications of the construction of dietary compliance, in school and at home; beyond, because they allow us to excavate in vivo how eating and feeding are part of a contested field of knowledge that depends on family endowments. The three chapters are hence based on the ethnographic fieldwork and the in-depth interviews conducted in four Italian primary schools. Chapter 4, partially rooted in the Foucauldian tradition of governmentality studies, uses the concept of strategy and tactics (de Certeau, 1984) to analyse the construction and implementation of a healthy meal and the resistances that arise around and within the school canteen. On a different note, chapter 5 makes use of the in-depth interviews with parents and the fieldnotes gathered in Poversano and Goldazzo school canteens to study how cultural and economic family resources shape parental feeding practices, their perception of the school meal and children’s knowledge of healthy food and cuisine. Finally, chapter 6 illustrates what happens to food education programs when they are applied in extreme contexts, such as the school of a poverty-stricken neighbourhood of Palermo. In the conclusions, I summarise the most important findings of the manuscript, and I draw attention to the possible implications for school food programs as well as for future directions for research.

Every human being is familiar to the experience of reminiscence: recalling and revisiting our past memories. We reminisce to create our identities. We reminisce to maintain our relationships. We reminisce to review our lives. And we also reminisce together. This dissertation develops around the topic of how IT stimulates reminiscence, motivated by its proven benefits in peopleâ s well-being and its prevalence across all stages of life. The focus is set on older adults, with the overall goal of fostering intergenerational social interactions (that is, interactions between older adults and younger generations). This thesis is motivated by the current interest on active ageing as an emergent way of life, with better and more opportunities for health, participation and security. As the world ageing population continues to increase and the average life expectancy of people increasing every year, there is a growing need for understanding the ageing phenomena, and particularly, for designing human centered information technologies (IT) that enhance opportunities of social participation as people age. Within this scenario, this dissertation addresses the following research questions using a participatory approach to research and design: (i) what is the role of IT in enabling a more happy and active ageing?; (ii) in doing so, how can IT stimulate intergenerational social interactions?, and (iii) can IT-supported social reminiscence facilitate these interactions and make of them an enjoyable experience?. To answer these questions, we leverage upon a participatory action research approach to gain an understanding of the topic, moving later to the participatory design of IT for social reminiscence and finally, evaluating how IT supports the practice of social reminiscence in a face-to-face intergenerational context. The contributions of this dissertation can be summarized as follows: - Knowledge: an understanding of what role IT can play in supporting, stimulating and accompanying active ageing and social interactions through the practice of reminiscence. - Model: a conceptual model of the different stages of IT-supported social reminiscence sessions, and an extended model of the design spaces for intergenerational engagement. - System: an exemplary socio-technical system that fits the aforementioned roles, including a knowledge base and algorithms to support contextual stimulation of reminiscence, using multimedia resources that are publicly available on the web. - Evaluation: quantitative and qualitative results obtained from observing the use of our system in a real intergenerational context.

The thesis contributes to the explanation of two well-documented phenomena: the strong decline in fertility rates and the parallel increase in female labour market participation which occurred in the last decades in most OECD countries. The argument is studied by means of a European comparison and an in-depth analysis of the Italian case. An innovative aspect of the work is the combination of cultural and structural explanations. In fact, the main argument of the thesis is that cross-national differences and the puzzling Italian and Southern European pattern of low fertility and low female labour market participation should be understood as stemming from the interplay between different factors, related to a structural – Welfare Regimes and the Economic Theory of the Family – and a cultural theoretical framework – the Second Demographic Transition and the distinction between “strong” and “weak” family systems. In detail, the thesis shows empirically how both women’s opportunity-costs and households’ economic resources as well as family values and preferences are useful to understand fertility and female labour market participation behaviours. ILFI (Indagine Longitudinale sulle Famiglie Italiane, 1997-2005) data have been used to demonstrate how individual- and household-level mechanisms, connected with social stratification, underlying the transition to parenthood and female labour market participation around childbirths are coherent with the Italian familialistic institutional setting. Italy is an interesting case not least because of its strong regional heterogeneity, which concerns also the family formation process. Adopting an epidemiological approach, ILFI and IARD data on the condition of youth (2004) are exploited to show how the regional heterogeneity in family behaviours within Italy, such as the lower age at parenthood and the higher fertility rates in Southern regions in the selected cohorts, may be largely explained by differences in family values. This first hint suggesting the role of culture on demographic behaviours is developed further in a comparative setting using EVS (European Values Study, 1990-2008) data. The latter allowed to assess directly the importance of values and attitudes for women’s labour market participation and fertility decisions in 15 European countries. Finally, the comparison between the different paths followed by Italy and the Netherlands in the last thirty years is discussed as an example of how changes in the institutional settings in order to foster work-family reconciliation are deeply embedded within wider processes of social change. Based on the developed theoretical framework and the results of the mentioned empirical analyses, the author attempts to integrate different streams of the literature and presents an argumentation about the complex interplay between interests, ideas and institutions underlying fertility and female labour market participation trends and patterns.

This research investigates why people acquire dual citizenship. It focuses on the acquisition of dual citizenship through residency, with a processual lens and under conditions of “ordinariness” to tackle aspects that are usually overlooked. It builds on the differentiated access to dual citizenship granted to Peruvian migrants by the Italian and Spanish citizenship regimes. The 79 Peruvian migrants included in the study are either prospective dual citizens or actual dual citizens. The research builds on qualitative methods ranging from participant observation to in-depth semi-structured interviews. It investigates the motivations, expectations and contingences that bring migrants to the status acquisition. The analysis distinguishes between early and postponed acquisitions to highlight how practices of convenience and everyday forms of substantive commitment can coexist under the same national umbrella. Moreover it suggests that the availability and accessibility of the dual status cannot be conflated with a supposed desirability. Although nation-states design their citizenship and immigration regimes according to normative stances that should shape their ideal citizenry, individuals qua migrants manage to forge their own way into the host community while formally abiding the law. Thus, migrants’ pathways across statuses are the result of structural constraints as much as personal preferences and deliberate positioning vis-à-vis nation-states. The study shows how people navigate the laws through both legal and semi-legal means; how they cultivate constellations of belonging that do not necessarily match formal memberships; and how they invest citizenship with multiple meanings that can converge, collide, or simply bypass the state-led rhetoric on national membership.

La tesi propone una ricognizione dei principali contributi sulla riflessione sviluppatasi attorno al nesso tra cittadinanza attiva, partecipazione e volontariato delle persone di origine straniera.  Il quadro teorico di riferimento integra il paradigma della sociologia relazionale e quello dell’approccio delle capabilities - i quali sono stati usati in un’ottica di complementarietà - nell’idea di unire la dimensione sociale, partecipativa e relazionale della cittadinanza alla richiesta di quest’ultima di essere continuamente sostenuta affinché possa configurarsi in termini di cittadinanza competente. L’analisi è stata condotta con metodologia qualitativa e, nello specifico, attraverso la realizzazione due studi di caso afferenti a esperienze di attivazione di persone di origine straniera all’interno di realtà di volontariato organizzato, nell’intento di identificare gli elementi facilitanti e ostacolanti la messa in atto di pratiche di cittadinanza attiva. I risultati più significativi riguardano: a) l’esigenza di approfondire la presenza di impliciti culturali stanti la diversa semantizzazione della pratica del volontariato delle persone di origine straniera, affinché la promozione di azioni di cittadinanza attiva trovi senso e spazio all’interno di una cornice di riferimento condivisa, b) l’importanza di policy integrate e condivise che riconoscano il ruolo chiave della società di accoglienza nel processo di integrazione. / The present study focuses on the nexus between active citizenship, social participation and Third Country Nationals volunteering in non-ethnic organizations. The theoretical framework integrates the paradigm of relational sociology and the capability approach with the specific aim to integrate the social, participatory and relational dimension of citizenship with its request to be continuously supported by the different actors of the civil society, so that it can configure itself as a competent citizenship. The analysis is done by conducting two case studies focusing on the experience of engagement of Third Country Nationals in non-ethnic voluntary organization, in order to identify factors and conditions promoting or hindering the implementation of active citizenship practices. Main results concern: a) the importance to take into consideration the diverse concepts of and attitude towards volunteering and the implicit cultural understandings of volunteering which affect the way in which volunteering is practiced and understood within society and b) the key role of the receiving society into the integration process of migrant.

Questo lavoro di ricerca si colloca nell’ambito della Social Work Education e indaga gli Stage sperimentali in Servizio sociale, una nuova forma di tirocinio proposta al terzo anno del corso di laurea in Scienze del Servizio Sociale dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano e Brescia. La tesi osserva l’evoluzione della professione di assistente sociale e della sua formazione, dedica attenzione alla Social Work Education di stampo relazionale ed in particolare a delle esperienze di campo innovative a livello internazionale. La parte empirica si concentra sugli Stage sperimentali: attraverso uno strumento originale sono stati raccolti 315 questionari on-line da laureati tra l’anno accademico 2008-2009 e 2014-2015 che hanno sostenuto questa attività. L’indagine ha osservato le caratteristiche fondamentali dei progetti realizzati sul campo e ha riscontrato continuità con il modello teorico degli Stage basato sull’approccio relazionale; si è infatti rilevata la presenza negli Stage sperimentali di: costruzione partecipata delle progettualità, ingaggio di collaboratori riflessivi non necessariamente professionali, innovazione relativa rispetto al contesto. Si è anche rilevato il proseguire di un numero rilevante progetti al termine degli Stage curricolari grazie al contributo dei partner coinvolti e lo scaturire dalle esperienze di Stage di nuove occasioni di lavoro per i neo assistenti sociali. / This study takes palce in the field of Social Work Education and investigates the Social Work Unconventional Placements, a new frame of placement proposed at the third year of Catholic University Social Work degree (Milan-Brescia). The thesis argues the evolution of Social Work profession and its education, giving attention to the Relational-way of Social Work Education and to international innovative practice learning experiences. The research project focused on Unconventional Placement inspired by Relational Social Work method. To collect data and opinions of UC Social Work bachelors an original survey was created. The on-line survey was administered to 315 former-social work students that practiced this activity in 2008-2015. The research explored the main characteristics of the Unconventional Placements realized by the students during their Social work education path. Findings from the study confirmed the presence of distinctive traits related to the theoretic model of Unconventional Placement developed in Relational SWE framework: participatory approach to projects, reflexive involvement of professional/non-professional partners, innovation in the specific context. The survey observes the carry on of a considerable number of projects after the end of curricular placements, through the community project partners activation; from Unconventional Placements emerge new job opportunities for new social workers involved.

Questo studio sviluppa un originale indicatore di rischio corruzione negli appalti pubblici Italiani e stima la correlazione tra le caratteristiche delle aziende aggiudicatarie e l’indicatore di rischio corruzione precedentemente stimato. L’indicatore di rischio corruzione è costruito a partire dai residui statistici di una procedura semi-parametrica a due stadi. Nella prima fase, i contratti dei lavori pubblici sono comparati per identificare l’inefficienza relativa di ciascun lavoro pubblico sulla base di due variabili predefinite – costi aggiuntivi e ritardi nella fase di esecuzione del contratto – attraverso una tecnica di valutazione delle performance (DEA). Nella seconda fase, l’indicatore di inefficienza generato nella prima fase è spiegato attraverso l’uso di determinanti di inefficienza, escludendo il fattore della corruzione che è trattato separatamente. Nella terza fase, i residui di stima sono trasformati in nuovi punteggi di rischio corruzione a livello di contratto pubblico. I risultati suggeriscono che: (1) le stazioni appaltanti ad elevato rischio corruzione si trovano maggiormente nel Lazio, in Lombardia e in Toscana; (2) le aziende aggiudicatarie ad alto rischio corruzione risiedono maggiormente nel Centro Italia (Abruzzo, Umbria e Lazio) e nel Sud Italia (Campania e Basilicata). Successivamente, l’esercizio di valutazione del rischio corruzione è mirato all'identificazione delle caratteristiche aziendali associate ad un rischio elevato di corruzione. I risultati suggeriscono che le aziende che si aggiudicano contratti ad alto rischio di corruzione sono più orientati alla ricerca del profitto, detengono meno debiti e necessitano mediamente di maggior tempo per pagare i loro clienti. Infine, queste aziende hanno maggiori probabilità di avere legami legali e/o finanziari con giurisdizioni off-shore e paradisi fiscali. / This study develops an original corruption risk indicator at the Italian procurement level and estimates the correlation between the profile of contract suppliers and the corruption risk indicator in question. This corruption risk indicator relies on a residual approach following a two-stage, semi-parametric procedure. First, public work contracts are benchmarked to investigate the relative efficiency of each public work execution based on two predefined variables – cost overrun and time delay – using a data envelopment analysis (DEA). Second, DEA efficiency scores are regressed on environmental and contract-level determinants of inefficiency – excluding corruption which is treated separately. Third, the estimate residuals provide estimates of the potential risk of corruption at the contract level. The aggregated results from an updated Italian public procurement dataset suggest that: (1) the risk of corruption associated with contracting authorities prevails in larger urban areas, especially in Lazio, Tuscany and Lombardy; (2) the risk of corruption in relation to the location of firms is higher in central regions (Abruzzo, Umbria and Lazio) and southern regions (Campania and Basilicata). Then, a risk-based assessment exercise is performed to profile suppliers. The corruption risk indicator is regressed on suppliers’ financial and ownership data to identify patterns among firms winning risky contracts. Suppliers associated with high levels of corruption risk in public contracting are more profit-seeking, hold low levels of debts and on average need more days to pay their customers. Finally, suppliers involved in public work contracts at high risk of corruption are more likely to have legal and/or financial connections with off-shore jurisdictions and tax havens which might use financial and corporate secrecy to attract illicit financial flows.