Social Policy

Research focus

The Peer review has evaluated this group as Excellent

The research group studies the relationship between sociological analysis and social policy. Several members are part of Social Policy Lab, set up in the 2001. The Social Policy Lab contributes through its research activities to the knowledge and evaluation of the policies and intervention programmes that seek to satisfy the needs and social demands that comprise the ideal offering of “citizenship goods” – addressing various needs present within a society, such as healthcare, housing, those that concern the social quality within the region overall and with regard to employment, and income distribution – with a specific interest for the forms and regulatory processes of those policies. The objective of the Social Policy Lab is to provide tools for comprehension and guidance for those who make and carry out social policy. Thus the SPL engages in both theoretic and applicative research and study activities. In particular, the Lab seeks to shed light on the following: - organizational, institutional, and cultural processes which define the content and method of social policy, and the social and political effects of its subsequent implementation; - the social, territorial, and political processes and factors which contribute to social vulnerability and social risk, with a wide range view of problems of social cohesion, especially with regards to urban economic development dynamics; - problems of homelessness and the policies geared to promote housing integration; - social and territorial policies for the rehabilitation of individuals and areas at risk of social exclusion and poverty; - forms of third sector organization and political action, in addition to coordination between public actors, non-profit organizations and private actors, and citizen involvement in the definition and implementation of social policy; - immigration processes and those policies designed to facilitate social and housing integration for the immigrant population; - problems of disability and dependence, strategies adopted by individuals and families to overcome such problems, and the social policies and reform programmes created to provide for the care of and assistance to disabled members of the society; - poverty, urban policies and urban conflicts in global cities. Specifically, the research activities over the last four years have resulted in the publication of papers and books covering all activity areas of the SPL, in addition to the opportunity to interact with researchers and professors from a number of diverse Universities and research centers both in Italy and abroad.

Dipartimento di afferenza

Dipartimento di Architettura e Pianificazione (DIAP)

Docenti afferenti

Full Professors
Costanzo Ranci Ortigosa
Antonio Tosi
Assistant Professors
Agostino Petrillo