Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Italian Context'

Children of Italian immigrants in Montreal are in contact with many languages and kinds of speech. French and English are used publicly, formal Italian is studied in heritage classes, a dialect of the family's region of origin is used at home, and a kind of koine is frequently used in interactions with other Italian immigrants. The contact of these languages produces various kinds of interferences. These lead a child to make errors when he tries to use the Standard Italian code. In this research, children's compositions are examined for errors which in turn are analysed and classified. The causes of these errors are investigated and statistics are presented to indicate the frequency of errors or the power of various causes.
An effort is made to show all the different errors and interferences that occur, and to discover a pattern of their causes. The data put forth might eventually serve as a base for further studies on the pedagogical prevention or correction of errors in the teaching of Standard Italian as adapted to the specific situation in Montreal.

This thesis aims to reposition the halo’s status within an artwork through arguing a reassessment of its activity 'as a sign' rather than acceptance of its passivity. This active state is further explored and expanded by a heuristic application of semiotic theory to interrogate its fluctuation between sign/non-sign and its oscillation between a seemingly real status and behaviour juxtaposed with its very consciously artificial “manifestation”. A variety of halo shapes are considered, together with texture contained in and on its surface, and this has revealed the Venetian and Venetan artistic innovation of “glass” and “silk” haloes, through artists’ utilisation of contemporaneous industrial practices and their application to halo appearance. Additionally, extant architectural vocabulary is translated and reformulated into internal halo motifs by Venetian and Venetan artists, further enhancing the halo’s somatic characteristics, contextualized by examination of halo representation in various media in Florence, Rome and Siena, and a consideration of haloes within other, mainly Italian, centres. Additionally, the fugitive and transient qualities of the nimbus are noted, with its mimesis of the dying corporeal body in its fading insubstantiality, a further factor in its inexorably reductive form as increasing realism in art challenges its ontological traits. Textual characters contained within the halo body are also examined in their many forms and languages and their contribution to an intertextual function espoused by the ideologeme. An adjunct to this function is the halo’s propagandist role presented by artists. It will be demonstrated how all these different strands of interpretation are imbricated in the changing theological, political and societal landscape, encapsulated within the halo.

Italian SMEs are currently not truly experiencing agile innovation benefits, due to the traditional business approach of the system in which they operate. At a general level, research has shown that companies adopting agile strategies in their innovation processes are observing positive impactful returns, especially when particular pre-conditions for a correct implementation are present. Starting from the existing work on agile innovation, this thesis tries to extend the scope to a peculiar geographic business perspective by asking: in the Italian SMEs context, what should a company change to enhance agility in its innovation process? Based on the pillar ideas that literature offers in terms of concepts definition - exemplifying the notions of Italian SMEs, agility and innovation - two interviews were designed to explore new meaningful insights coming from a single-case study. The selected company is Elite s.r.l., an Italian SME representing an unusual encouraging example with respect to the respective population when exploring agile innovation. The consequent analysis of Elite’s information – mainly qualitative, along with some quantitative references – argued in favour of the positive influence which three factors have on agile innovation enhancement: the passion of the HR dedicated to the innovation process, the organization of the innovation process around the figure of a business-oriented project manager, and the complete customer-focus of the innovation process value creation. Although the case study investigation helped both to enrich the framing of the three research hypotheses and to provide a first partial endorsement, further studies are suggested to provide stronger understanding of this organizational subject.

La cooperazione tra enti locali viene spesso identificata come strumento volto alla risoluzione della frammentazione territoriale, peculiare caratteristica italiana. Malgrado la letteratura si sia focalizzata sulla collaborazione inter-istituzionale, sembra essere scarsa l’attenzione sui sistemi di gestione delle performance (PMS). L’analisi si concentra sull'Unione dei Comuni (UC), un modello italiano di cooperazione tra due o più comuni. Dallo studio della letteratura Economico Aziendale e di “network performance” si è inteso concettualizzare teoricamente l'UC e comprendere come la gestione delle performance in un contesto collaborativo possa essere attuata identificando caratteristiche rilevanti per la progettazione, implementazione e utilizzo dei PMS. Avvalendosi di una metodologia di casi di studio multiplo di tipo esplorativo, sono state esaminate otto esperienze di UC nella regione Emilia-Romagna e mediante una ricerca qualitativa (analisi documentale e interviste semi-strutturate) si sono analizzate le fasi di progettazione e utilizzo di un PMS, identificando altresì le condizioni contestuali e organizzative utili ai fini decisionali. I risultati dell'indagine offrono riflessioni per una possibile concettualizzazione teorica dell'UC, contestualizzandola in un panorama internazionale, approfondendo la definizione di UC come network e discutendo su governance e network management. Questo elaborato intende fornire inoltre un framework concettuale considerando modelli di PMS sviluppati in letteratura, adattandoli ai network di enti locali e, in particolare, alle UC. In termini di implicazioni pratiche, il lavoro identifica i fondamenti per un’efficace progettazione di PMS ai fini di un adeguato sistema decisionale, di controllo e di accountability. Si evidenzia come le misure di performance non siano solitamente implementate per raggiungere outcome di network desiderati bensì utilizzate per monitorare le UC intese come enti singoli.
Local Government (LG) cooperation is often identified as a tool aimed at overcoming issues linked with territorial fragmentation which can often be seen in Italy. Even though the wider focus on inter-institutional collaboration, the performance management role within this context seems to be rather scarce. This analysis is focused on the Municipal Union (MU), which is a widespread Italian cooperation model between two or more municipalities. This essay analyzes the Economia Aziendale literature with the aim to theoretically conceptualize the MU. Moreover, to better understand how collaborative performance management can be operationalized, network performance literature has been analyzed with the aim to understand PMS design, implementation, and use. This study makes use of an explanatory multiple case study. It examines eight cases of MUs in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. Qualitative research has been carried out (document analysis and semi-structured interviews) with the aim to analyze PMS design and use, and how contextual and organizational conditions influence decision-making. The results of the analysis offer insights into the theoretical conceptualization of the MU, contextualizing it in an international panorama. It enhances the definition of the MU provided by literature in terms of LG networks, discussing the issues on governance and network management. Moreover, this essay provides a conceptual framework drawing on previous studies and performance management models, describing them with reference to LG networks, and particularly, to MUs. In terms of practical implications, the paper identifies the fundamentals for a methodologically correct PMS design for a specific context and structure, while supporting proper monitoring, decision-making, and accountability. This essay highlights how MU performance measures are usually not implemented for achieving desired network outcomes, but they are often used to monitor MUs meant as a single LG.

Scientific and economic research based on administrative data has grown considerably over the past two decades. The use of administrative data, in particular hospital discharge data, offered researchers the opportunity to develop new scientific evidence of the determinants of health, as well as evaluate government policies aimed at improving people’s health. This thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 offers a review of the literature on administrative data, discussing advantages and disadvantages, issues of data quality and the data’s research potential. Administrative data from the SDO database are used in the second chapter to examine the determinants affecting patient choice of distant destinations. Discrete choice models reveal that the factors that are most influential to patient hospital choice are distance, number of beds and hospital case mix. In chapter 3, difference-in-difference models are used to evaluate the effect of an Italian regulatory policy that prohibited the night sale of alcohol in motorway service areas. Combining data provided by the Ministry of Health for the years 2007-2013 on admissions for alcohol intoxication and accidents with information about hospital location and socio-economic characteristics of the area, our results suggest the effectiveness of the policy ban in reducing the number of alcohol related hospitalizations when aggregating data at patient municipality of residence.

The thesis contributes to the current debate in the fields of adaptation studies and intersemiotic translation. Recent critical stances invite the re-evaluation of the traditional hierarchy which subordinates the target text to its original, and promote a description-oriented textual analysis of a key issue which is common to the texts involved in the adaptation process. By considering the relationship between literature and cinema, the present thesis explores scopophilia, or the love for looking at sexually stimulating scenes, as a key issue in the textual analysis of intersemiotic translation in four significant novels adapted to Italian cinema. Specifically, to put them in the order of the chapters, the thesis analyses scopophilia in Alberto Moravia’s L’uomo che guarda (1985) and the Italian translation of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s novel La chiave (1956), two literary works adapted to cinema by the Italian director of erotic cinema Tinto Brass (in 1994 and 1983 respectively), and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorema (1968) and Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (c. 1350-53), adapted for the screen by Pasolini himself (in 1968 and 1971 respectively). The case studies tackle issues related to adaptation of novels to films, but also issues concerned with the erotic, control and discovery, as well as other psychoanalytic notions which are related to scopophilia (e.g. sexual fetishism, Oedipus complex).

xxiv, 603 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Though not widely acknowledged, ballet and its music were important to the nineteenth-century Italian theatre-goer. While much scholarship exists for Italian opera, less study is made of its counterpart even though the ballet was an important feature of Italian theatre and culture. This dissertation is the first in-depth survey of the music for Italian ballets from 1800-1870, drawing from the hundreds of ballet scores in two important collections: The John and Ruth Ward Italian Ballet Collection, part of the Harvard Theatre Collection, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Research Collections. After discussion of primary and secondary sources (Chapters II and III), I provide an overview of the context in which ballets were performed during the period (Chapter IV). In Chapter V I discuss musical styles for mime and for dance, and dance sub-categories such as the pas de deux, ballabile, and national dances. I also explore specific commonly occurring choreo-musical sub-topics such as anger, love, storms, hell, witches, devils, and sylphs. Finally, I examine two complete ballets in detail. Chapter VI on Salvatore Viganò's La Vestale includes a discussion of the hitherto neglected manuscript full score and of the published piano reduction. Chapter VII on Giuseppe Rota's Bianchi e Negri explores the musical and dramatic adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin . While examining the traits of Italian ballet music as a genre and exploring relationships between music, dance, and libretto, this dissertation initiates a wider discussion of the social-political context of ballet music in nineteenth-century Italian theatrical life during the turbulent decades spanning the 'Risorgimento' period.
Committee in charge: Marian Smith, Chairperson, Music; Anne McLucas, Member, Music; Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Member, Music; Jenifer Craig, Outside Member, Dance

This research aims at contributing to a better understanding of changes in local governments’ accounting and reporting practices. Particularly, ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ environmental aspects are included and the significance of changes across time. It adopts an interpretative approach to conduct a longitudinal analysis of case studies. Pettigrew and Whipp’s framework on context, content and process is used as a lens to distinguish changes under each dimension and analyse their interconnections. Data is collected from official documents and triangulated with semi-structured interviews. The legal framework defines as boundaries of the accounting information the territory under local governments’ jurisdiction and their immediate surrounding area. Organisational environmental performance and externalities are excluded from the requirements. An interplay between the local outer context, political commitment and organisational culture justifies the implementation of changes beyond what is regulated and the implementation of transformational changes. Local governments engage in international networks to gain access to funding and implement changes, leading to adopting the dominant environmental agenda. Key stakeholders, like citizens, are not engaged in the accounting and reporting process. Thus, there is no evidence that the environmental aspects addressed and related changes align with stakeholders’ needs and expectations, which jeopardises its significance. Findings from the current research have implications in other EU member states due to the harmonisation of accounting and reporting practices and the common practice across the EU in using external funding to conceptualise and implement changes. This implies that other local governments could also be representing a limited account related to environmental aspects.

This thesis contributes to the study of portraiture by delivering an appraisal of female portraits produced in the urban areas of Italy and Flanders in the fifteenth century. Scholarship on individual and selections of these items exists, but it is fragmented and influenced by Marxist-feminist views about genders and their roles in the system of patriarchy. The term ‘patriarchy’ describes a socio-political and economic organization that is male-controlled. By applying patrilineal rules of patrimonial and political transmission through social stabilisers such as the institution of marriage, it disenfranchises women from decisions that affect their life directly, and ultimately their sense of entitlement. However, in order to function successfully, it creates forms of compensation that diminish the risks of uprising by the marginalised. Concerning women, this could be seen as their feminine experience of these conditions, which feminist analyses tend to overlook. With an original survey of one-hundred and four individual female portraits dated c.1400-c.1500, this thesis explores the relationship between the image and such experience during the rise of entrepreneurial communities, because these groups relied principally on this system to prosper individually and collectively. For the task, this thesis uses a legal-anthropological method that eschews the Marxist-feminist trappings. Its results show that female agency in the domestic environment and the dowry-system produced a binary relationship between men and women and forms of public and private recognition that challenge the basic notion of female marginalisation. Secondly, the Christocentric practices developed by evangelical groups from the early-thirteenth century proved very popular amongst women because they offered varieties of autonomy and public intervention that were otherwise precluded to them. Thirdly, humanism affected a small but important group of women, whose desire for learning challenged conventional propaganda about female inadequacies. This thesis explains the ways in which these facets are integrated in the likenesses of this survey. It demonstrates that fifteenth-century spectatorship received two types of stimuli. One that invested on an affinity of appreciation of the social values of female beauty, fashion and domestic skills, and that articulated ideas of commonwealth and kinship. One other that sought affinity that was more intimate and consistent with the sitter’s psychological condition. These strands ramified into social and ethical discourses that this thesis charts and examines. The one-hundred and four portraits featured in this survey originated predominantly in Flanders and central-northern Italy, the early strongholds of European mercantile groups. Current scholarship compares Netherlandish and Italian portraiture in terms of modernity versus obsolescence because the former developed naturalistic portraits in located backgrounds in c.1430, whilst the latter preferred the profile format until the end of the century. This thesis contests this polarisation because visual and contextual evidence together suggest that sociocultural interests informed choices of formats and the circulation of likenesses to the effect that modernity in portraiture cannot be measured in mere technical terms. Fifteenth-century Netherlandish portraits are, indeed, the earliest examples of modern portraiture but this phenomenon must be understood, this thesis explains, as the product of concomitant conditions that include new media and new attitudes towards the self, caused by the secularisation of culture and the revival of Greco-Roman literature. This thesis also contributes to the knowledge of the genre because it uncovers types of female portraiture that are new to the existing assessments, thereby setting the parameters for a classification of the topic from the perspective of the feminine experience of her own mimesis.

The PhD thesis is entitled to the study of the rules concerning the taxation of services in the International, European and Italian context. The decision to study the taxation of services stems from the prominent position of these activities in today’s economy: such a consideration applies both to developed countries, as well as to developing countries. Such prominence position has been further intensified by the digital revolution. Because of this even more “service – oriented” structure, the taxation of services has been under scrutiny for at least thirty years: lately this issue has been brought to the forefront of international taxation debate, in relation to which the taxation of services appears to be nowadays one of the most controversial topic. The work is structured in three chapters, which focus on the taxation of cross – border services in the current international tax system (chapter 1), on the taxation of cross – border intra group services in light of its main transfer pricing implications (chapter 2) and on the taxation of digital cross – border services (chapter 3). Each of the three mentioned chapters starts with an introductory question, followed by the analysis of the main aspects related to the International and European frameworks. The domestic level is also considered: those domestic frameworks that appear to be of most interest for the analysis performed in each chapter have been indeed selected. The last chapter 4 discusses the conclusions of the analysis performed in the three preceding chapters in light of the Italian experience, the one which the PhD student is most familiar with.

La present tesi constitueix una investigació sistemàtica sobre l'art rupestre paleolític a la Península Italiana, inserint-lo en el més ampli debat a nivell euromediterrani i oferint un suport vàlid per futures recerques en el mateix camp. Han estat seleccionats onze casos d’estudi principals, per la seva riquesa i importància a nivell bibliogràfic: Balzi Rossi (coves Florestano, Blanc-Cardini i Caviglione - Ventimiglia, Imperia), la cova de la Bàsura (Toirano, Savona), la cova de les Arene Candide (Toirano, Savona), els espais a camp obert de Luine (Rocce No. 6 e 34 - Darfo-Boario Terme, Brescia), la cova de Fumane (Fumane, Verona), el refugi del Romito, la cova Paglicci (Rignano Garganico, Foggia) i la cova Romanelli (Costra, Lecce). Els espais seleccionats han estat analitzats adoptant una aproximació interdisciplinària, introduint tots els aspectes rellevants: la geologia, l'arqueologia, la història dels estudis i els anàlisis de les conservacions, abans d'arribar a la discussió final sobre l'art rupestre. La revisió dels espais ja coneguts ha permès reorganitzar millor totes les dades a nivell cronològic i de distribució espacial. Així mateix, la nova proposta metodològica ha suposat, per primera vegada, la introducció sistemàtica d'una sèrie de nous anàlisis i variables en l'estudi d'aquesta temàtica, tals com la primera datació amb el sistema U/Th i la valoració geològica de les línies glacials sobre les roques de la Valcamonica. Una aproximiació a l'estudi que va més enllà de la simple anàlisi morfològica, aportant una llum innovadora sobre el fenomen de l'art rupestre durant el paleolític superior a la Península Italiana. És així com ha estat possible identificar una forta varietat en les qüestions presentades, en la cronologia i en les relacions amb altres àrees, evidenciant possibles dinàmiques socials que es troben a la base de la difusió dels símbols, demostrant així com la Península Italiana ha estat un cap de pont i no pas un cul-de-sac, en el més ampli panorama de l'art rupestre paleolític de la regió euromediterrània.
Esta tesis constituye un trabajo sistemático sobre el arte rupestre paleolítico en la península italiana, insertándolo en un debate más amplio a nivel de la región euro-mediterránea y ofreciendo un soporte valido por futuras investigaciones. Once yacimientos han sido seleccionados como casos de estudio principal debido a la riqueza patrimonial y a su importancia a nivel bibliográfico: Balzi Rossi (cuevas de Florestano, Blanc-Cardini and Caviglione - Ventimiglia, Imperia), cueva della Bàsura (Toirano, Savona), cueva delle Arene Candide (Toirano, Savona), y los sitios al aire libre de Luine (rocas No. 6 e 34 - Darfo-Boario Terme, Brescia), cueva di Fumane (Fumane, Verona), abrigo del Romito, cueva Paglicci (Rignano Garganico, Foggia) y cueva Romanelli (Castro, Lecce). Los yacimientos se han analizado desde un enfoque multidisciplinar, introduciendo todos los aspectos relevantes: la geología, la arqueología, la historia de los estudios, la análisis de conservación y la descripción del componente iconográfico, antes de llegar a la valoración y discusión. La revisión de yacimientos ya conocidos ha permitido reorganizar mejor todos los datos a nivel cronológico y de distribución espacial. Además, la nueva propuesta metodológica ha favorecido la introducción, por la primera vez de manera sistemática, de nuevos análisis y variables en el estudio de ese tema: la primera datación con el sistema U/Th y la evaluación geológica de las líneas glaciales en las rocas de Valcamonica. Un enfoque que va mas allá del simple análisis morfológico, dando enfoque diferente sobre el fenómeno del arte rupestre paleolítico en la península italiana. De este modo, se ha podido documentar una gran variabilidad en los temas, en la cronología y en las relaciones con otras áreas, evidenciando posibles dinámicas sociales que están a la base de la difusión de los símbolos, y demostrando cómo la península italiana ha sido “un puente” y no un “cul-de-sac” en el más amplio panorama del arte rupestre paleolítico de la región euro-mediterránea.
This thesis manuscript is a systematic work on the Palaeolithic rock art in the Italian peninsula including it into a wider debate involving the Euro-Mediterranean region, and offering a valid support for further researches in this field. Eleven sites were selected as main review cases, according to their richness and significance from a bibliographic point of view: Balzi Rossi (Florestano, Blanc-Cardini and Caviglione caves - Ventimiglia, Imperia), Bàsura cave (Toirano, Savona), Arene Candide cave (Toirano, Savona), Luine open air rock art sites (Rocks No. 6 and 34 - Darfo-Boario Terme, Brescia), Fumane cave (Fumane, Verona), Romito shelter, Paglicci cave (Rignano Garganico, Foggia) and Romanelli cave (Castro, Lecce). The sites were separately discussed adopting a multidisciplinary approach introducing all the relevant aspects, the geology, the archaeology, the history of the studies and the preservation analysis, before getting to a final discussion of the rock art evidence. The review of the already known sites has permitted to better re-arrange all the data, in terms of chronology and spatial distribution. Moreover the new methodological proposal let introduce for the first time in systematic way a series of analysis and variables in the study of this topic, e.g. the first U/Th dating, the geological evaluation of the glacial lines on the Valcamonica rocks. An approach which goes beyond the mere morphological analysis, casting a different light on the rock art phenomenon during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Italian peninsula. So it was possible to notice a high variability in the rock art themes, in its chronology and in the relationships with the other areas, highlighting possible social dynamics occurred which are the cause of the symbol diffusion, and showing how the Italian peninsula was a bridgehead and not a dead-end in the wider panorama of the Palaeolithic rock art of the Euro-Mediterranean region.

This thesis examines the relationship between institutional context and firm performance, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. The aim is to engage with the debate seeking to explain the observed diversity in the forms of economic organisation prevailing in socio-economic systems. The focus of the empirical work is on investigating the effects of the structure and behaviour of banking institutions on firm performance, in the Italian context. The analysis is comparative in the sense that confronts cooperative and capitalist business structures. The analytical framework is institutionalist in emphasising the institutionally embedded nature of economic performance, and the historical and cultural dimensions of economic behaviour. The institutional complementarity approach is used to investigate the hypothesis that the relative performance of different firm structures is context dependent. The main conclusions are that the economic performance of cooperative firms is strongly conditioned in a sense of institutional complementarity by the degree of development and competition characterising the financial domain. Rejected are the pessimistic predictions of conventional accounts that democratic firms are unequivocally unviable. Instead, there are relations of context dependency, of institutional complementarity that influence the viability of firm types. The overall conclusion is that the dynamics governing the evolution of socio-economic systems are much more complex than mainstream economics suggests; productive organisations may assume a multiplicity of forms. The theoretical claims of a universalistic history in which all production systems must follow the same line of development must be abandoned. This brings about major policy implications at the regional, national and international levels.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 3-5 (last grouping)).
Italy is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Food, arts, design and gorgeous landscapes contribute in making it a unique place that I am proud to call home. However, in the last two decades Italy has experienced a tremendous decline in its economic activity. Youth unemployment levels soared while corporate bankruptcies numbered in the hundreds of thousands every year. Innovation, once a pillar of the country's success, gradually faded off, like dimming lights after a theatre play. This work aims to investigate the industry of venture capital in Italy because of its key role in supporting innovation. Through innovation and enhanced productivity, I believe, the country can escape its spiral of decline and provide a future for its "lost generation". The work is divided in three sections, gradually zooming on Italy from a global perspective to a country focus. The first section investigates the venture capital markets in the United States and Europe. The comparison is designed to contrast the two approaches and illustrate the best practices that shaped the success of the American venture capital model in the last four decades. This section includes a performance-based framework that I have designed to explain the gap between European and American VC investment levels. The second section focuses on Europe and presents several comparative analyses between the venture capital markets of each member state, with particular attention to the Italian case. In this section I present the findings from my study investigating the correlation between culture, climate and investing behaviour: the results confirm the presence of positive linear correlation and provide interesting grounds for further research. Finally, the last section is dedicated to the Italian venture capital market with an overview of its current state and an analysis of the main issues hindering its development.
by Andrea Aicardi.
S.M. in Management Studies

The issue of quality in healthcare has constituted the object of several literature studies during the last decades. Many analyses have been carried out, for the most part in the EU and in the US, with the objective to define quality of hospital care and to identify appropriate indicators to measure it. This dissertation is aimed at analyzing quality of hospital care, considering aspects related to demand, supply and institutional factors, among which there is the modality of reimbursement. The observed scenario (Italy) is characterised by heterogeneity in the provision of health care; in fact, after the reforms intervened during the last 20 years, the Italian NHS is organised on a regional basis. Data employed in a cross section analysis, run for the year 2009, are those of the National Program for the Evaluation of health outcomes, carried out by the Ministry of Health with AGENAS. Other information about hospital structures have been extracted from the Ministry of Health database. Five different datasets, one for each outcome indicator, have been built. A random intercept model and a truncated regression have been applied, considering, as dependent variables, health outcomes related to 30 days mortality and readmission rates for specific conditions (acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). A positive impact on quality of hospital care due to the reimbursement systems was found: variables related to the extent of DRGs tariff implementation and the choice for a regional tariff were significantly correlated with quality indicators. Finally, an efficiency analysis at the level of provinces has been run, whose results outlined the role of institutional and environmental factors in determining improvements in terms of efficiency. The positive contribution given by the present dissertation to the literature related to the quality of hospital care is significant. Conclusions that can be drafted confirm the main results obtained in the literature. Moreover, the application to the Italian context allows to obtain relevant policy implications. There is a positive impact on quality due to the choice of reimbursement system; the greater autonomy accorded to the Region might favour competition within hospital sector based on quality.

This thesis explores L2 classroom teacher-fronted activities organised in Initiation-Response- Evaluation (IRE) sequences, during beginner and intermediate lessons of Italian at the University level. More specifically, the study analyses the ways in which teachers address a variety of pedagogical contingencies while simultaneously progressing the interaction. It is argued that the tripartite sequential structure provides the teachers with pre-evaluative moments - here defined as pre-Evaluation opportunity spaces - emerging between the student’s responsive move (R) and the teacher’s third positioned evaluation (E). The research draws upon 30 hours of video- and audio-recorded interactions from two University Italian L2 classrooms. The study is informed by multimodal Conversation Analysis and socio-interactional approaches to language learning. Classroom interaction is, thus, regarded as one institutional type of social interaction and - as such - is viewed as jointly achieved by participants, sequentially organised, and relentlessly negotiated on a moment-by-moment basis. The findings show that the teachers regularly exploit specific IRE sequential affordances, such as the inter-move space between the student’s responsive move and the teacher’s evaluation. In particular, the fine-grained analysis of the teachers’ multimodal conduct uncovers how such opportunity space arising between Response and Evaluation may be employed in order to invite peer-correction practices, manage shifting classroom participation frameworks, distribute agency in the L2 classroom, and orient to the omnirelevant property of sequential progressivity while attending to concurrent institutional pressures. Furthermore, the analysis unearths how such intra-move space might be organised through the mobilisation of different semiotic material, such as head nods, pointing gestures, gaze, and body orientation. The findings confirm the adaptive quality of the IRE sequence organisation as one fundamental infrastructure that embodies the reflexive relationship between pedagogy and interaction.

This work is aimed to provide an analysis of the different teaching methodologies adopted in an Italian as a Second Language (L2) curriculum intended for adult learners. The interest in this subject culminated the moment I decided to attend as an observer some classes of Italian as a second language performed at LinguaIt, a private Italian language school and cultural centre. The first part of my paper approaches the didactic aspects involved in teaching a second language, as well as the main characteristics of L2 adult learners. Different teaching methods are examined and compared to the ones employed at Lingua It; particular attention is given to the use of the ludic methodology, considered as one of the school’s key strength. The second part of my dissertation focuses on the evaluation of a questionnaire submitted to subjects enrolled at Linguait; the analysis of their perceptions will help us determine whether these instructional aids contribute to successful learning. The school located in the heart of Verona welcomes students from all over the globe and, apart from the standard language course, it offers a variety of extracurricular activities tailored to meet and increase pupils’ interest.

The aim of this dissertation is to provide an overview of the modalities with which the major trends that have been wide spreading in the world of today have affected ports and the maritime sector in Europe. Firstly, a digression concerning the relevance of ports for intermodal transportation throughout the European area will be presented, focusing in particular on the function of those structures, usually determined by their nature and physical characteristics. Secondly, after a brief digression about the winds of change which have globally affected the transportation field in the last decades, the attention will be drawn to the existing geo-political and geo-economic differences between the Northern and the Southern European port systems. The lack of a European common regulation on the maritime subject, the ever more required adaptability to the continuously evolving commercial and economic sectors, the ever stricter environmental standards, and the problem of financing port reforms are among the most challenging problems that ports are called to face in the modern era. Thirdly, the attention will be focused on the Mediterranean sea and its international revaluation, that risks to be undermined by a tough competition between ports belonging to this same region. Then, some of the projects involving this area in recent years will be presented. Lastly, some considerations about the Italian situation will be provided, in order to understand what has already been done and what remains to do for the improvement of the position of our country in the international scenario.

In the new era of digitalization and technological change, characterized by an increasingly complex and high-volume data environment, the rise of Big Data and Analytics has brought new possibilities, but also new challenges to auditors. Since the audit profession has been always perceived as “static”, due to the strongly regulated environment characterized by precise standards to follow and limited to less than 100% of the entity’s items, the use of new forms of analytics techniques has increased the chances to perform better audits. Hence, the aim of the research thesis is to provide a contribution to the literature on how Big Data and Big Data Analytics are transforming the audit profession, trying to understand to what extent their emergence have changed the audit profession and to recognize if they represent a big opportunity or an unforeseeable threat. The methodology used to perform the research is qualitative, based on semi-structured interviews made to some European auditors, belonging to different Big Four audit firms across Italy and Belgium. The interviews have been carried out via e-mail, mobile phone or via video call. What emerges from the experiences and insights given by the auditors interviewed partly confirms the general consent expressed by the literature: Big Data and Analytics have brought a significant change in the way of doing audit today, giving access to a higher amount of data (100% of population sample), ameliorating the quality of the audit evidence and of the service, reducing the risk of potential frauds. However, some threats that have been identified by the literature, for instance a problem of privacy deriving from the full access to the client’s data, or the integration of unstructured data in the audit procedures, seemed not to hamper the audit procedures, even though they were considered to be relevant. Eventually, the research aims at providing a different insights on the matter, focusing on the audit scenarios of two European countries, which from one side, are similar, as they are subject to the same international standards to follow, but from the other side, they could differ in their approach towards the recent technological revolution of auditing.

This research explores the phenomenon of Bronze Age spearheads between the Middle and Final Bronze Age (18th century-9th century B.C.) in Italy. It will explore how these objects change over time and analyse patterns of distribution as well as changes in depositional context. The thesis consists of a catalogue of examples from the Italian Peninsula which are analysed in two ways: first, a typological sequence has been constructed, in order to identify differences in form, appearance and dimension, in order to analyze chronological and regional variation. Second, edge-wear analysis is conducted on a sample of objects in order to gain an appreciation of how this method can inform the archaeological interpretation of artefact biographies. The premise of such a study is rooted in a theoretical framework which argues that objects embody fundamental aspects of people’s social lives. As weapons for both hunting and warfare, spears embody rich symbolism which was drawn upon by Bronze Age communities, in many different ways. The biographical approach reveals close connections between these objects and the lives of individuals, the places they lived in as well locales which were of ritual importance to them. The edge-wear analysis also suggests that these objects were conceptualized as having lives which were ritually ended through deliberate damage, in addition to natural wear, damage and repair. These studies are situated within broader traditions of northern European archaeological evidence. The thesis concludes by arguing this biographical approach considerably enriches more traditional typological approaches to material culture. When used in combination with the study of the context of deposition, it suggests Mediterranean scholarship on prehistoric metallurgy can benefit greatly from these conjoined methodologies.

The author investigates the voice in diverse genres and styles, documenting and interpreting vocal performance through a contextual analysis of specifically chosen repertoire. This repertoire is drawn from collaboration with two musical groups, the Renaissance Players and Coda and from the author's artistic direction and presentation of four diverse recitals: American Songs, Italian Baroque, American Folk and Theatre and Nostalgia. Each recital is treated as a separate case study, in which the process of selecting, rehearsing and performing the repertoire is closely examined. Recordings and selected examples of scores are included to illustrate the findings. The discussion concludes with a synthesis of context and process within the framework of a global perspective celebrating diversity.
Master of Arts (Hons)

The concept of terrorism entails very different representations and meanings put forward by diverse actors as a result of complex socio-political dynamics. The efforts to understand and explain terrorism and its root-causes have increased exponentially after the attacks towards the Twin Towers in 2001. This research project fits into the broader literature on terrorism and builds on multiple disciplinary perspectives and, in particular, political sciences, sociology and anthropology. The data collected shed light on how Islamist radicalization occur in Italy through the analysis of its conceptualization and narration by a heterogeneous group of stakeholders dealing with the phenomenon in their professional endeavours. Three main types of data have been taken into consideration for the purpose of this study: the reports by the National Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism Directorate (DNA) from 2001 to 2017; in-depth interviews with representatives belonging to different institutional and professional sectors; press articles reporting the news of deportation of suspected terrorists published either on national or local newspapers between 2015 and 2017. Through the data gathered from these various sources, a comprehensive description of the radicalisation process has been developed combining multiple interpretations and viewpoints. Radicalization in Italy mainly concerns young male adults made vulnerable by their emotional fragility and distress, including identity troubles, frustrations and alienation and primarily recruited on the internet and in prisons. In the process of social co-construction of the phenomenon, relevant institutions, experts and professionals portray the process of radicalisation as an emergency threat in which terrorists and radicalized individuals are represented as the “others”.

In 2004 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published a set of Language Proficiency Requirements and demanded that pilots and controllers working on an international setting demonstrate a basic level of language proficiency. The objective of this strengthened provision was to avoid language-related problems during air-ground communications and to highlight the crucial importance of English as a prerequisite to reliably perform this job. This thesis begins with a students centered approach and aims at identifying the attitudes that Italian pilots and controllers have towards the ICAO language proficiency requirements in aviation. It will then go on to examine the attitudes towards the training provided in the context of aviation. Particularly, the objective was to investigate pilots’ and controllers’ opinions with regard to ICAO language descriptors and periodical test of English for Aviation seen as a short-term objective, and the perception of language proficiency as a long-term objective for successfully fulfilling future professional duties and as a sense of personal responsibility. The last part of the study aims at exploring the actual methodology used to teach aviation English. Data were collected through mixed methods. Qualitative data was gathered through focus groups, whereas quantitative data was collected by administering a survey questionnaire. As for the methodology in this area, data were collected through interviews to four teachers and then compared to the data collected from the students in the last part of the questionnaire.

La produzione agricola industriale su larga scala e il commercio di prodotti sono sempre più connessi a fenomeni di deforestazione e degradazione delle foreste tropicali. Tale fenomeno è descritto tramite il concetto di ‘rischio di deforestazione’ o forest-risk. I prodotti agricoli i cui processi produttivi implicano deforestazione e rimozione della vegetazione autoctona, sono classificati beni a rischio deforestazione (forest risk commodities). Carne bovina, soia, olio di palma e legname – i beni a rischio deforestazione – sono considerati ‘i grandi 4’ tra le forest-risk commodities. A causa della complessità dei sistemi globali di produzione e commercio alcuni beni sono indirettamente legati a tale rischio, poiché derivano da aree deforestate senza essere essi stessi causa diretta di deforestazione. Questa dimensione del rischio viene spesso tralasciata e permane un tema secondario nel dibattito sulla deforestazione derivata dalla produzione e il commercio di beni di consumo. La distinzione tra beni con un legame causale diretto con la deforestazione e beni che includono nella propria filiera il rischio di deforestazione incide su come la responsabilità della deforestazione viene attribuita e considerata sia tramite misure legali che tramite standard volontari di auto-regolamentazione. Pertanto risulta necessario sviluppare una concettualizzazione migliore per concordare una terminologia da utilizzare sia nella letteratura accademica che in quella informale e raggiungere delle decisioni politiche basate su un approccio scientifico. Nella ricerca effettuata si è voluto espandere la concettualizzazione di deforestation risk facendo riferimento al caso delle pelli bovine (di qui in avanti semplicemente, pelli) e in particolare al caso della produzione di pelli/prodotti di conceria in Brasile. Il focus sulle pelli ha molteplici ragioni. In primo luogo, mentre il ruolo degli allevamenti zootecnici come causa di deforestazione in Brasile è soggetto ad una crescente attenzione da parte dell’opinione pubblica, la filiera di produzione delle pelli rimane ancora inesplorata. Fatta eccezione per poche imprese leader del settore dei prodotti in pelle, il dibattito sulla trasparenza di questa filiera e il rischio di deforestazione ad essa associato è praticamente assente. In secondo luogo, la filiera della pelle è di norma molto più complessa rispetto a quella della carne bovina e coinvolge numerosi attori sia a livello nazionale che internazionale, ivi compresi gli intermediari, le concerie, le case di moda, ecc. Ciò crea delle discontinuità nella tracciabilità della pelle e complica l’identificazione del rischio di deforestazione lungo la filiera. Infine, la pelle è un bene che per propria stessa natura è legato a rapporti di forza squilibrati tra gli attori della filiera. Una terza ragione per la scelta del settore della pelle è data dal fatto che, poiché la pelle è spesso considerata un prodotto di scarto secondario della carne bovina, ne consegue che gli attori coinvolti nella filiera sostengono di avere uno scarso potere di negoziazione per imporre i loro standard e delle condizioni di non-deforestazione ai produttori. Al contempo, gli attori a valle della filiera, come le case di moda, sono maggiormente esposti a rischi di natura reputazionale rispetto alle imprese del settore della carne. In conseguenza di tale situazione vi è il fatto che la pelle è un bene con costi e benefici distribuiti in maniera asimmetrica all’interno della filiera. Mentre a monte gli allevatori mancano delle risorse per rispettare standard di sostenibilità e spesso non beneficiano di nessuna compensazione economica per il pellame dei propri bovini, i prodotti finiti in pelle sono visti come beni di lusso, con elevati margini di guadagno per le aziende che li producono e commerciano. Questa ricerca impiega sia dati primari che secondari. I dati primari sono principalmente di tipo qualitativo e derivano da trentanove interviste semi-strutturate e audio-registrate condotte sotto forma sia di colloqui vis-à-vis che a distanza (video-chiamate) durante una missione in Brasile tra maggio e agosto 2018. Tali dati sono stati utilizzati prevalentemente ai fini dell’analisi del discorso (discourse analysis) presentata nel secondo capitolo e come riferimenti interpretativi e di lettura del contesto per l’analisi dei dati quantitativi secondari presentata nei rimanenti capitoli. I dati e le informazioni secondari sono stati derivati da un’estesa analisi della letteratura e analisi di dati statistici relativi a mattatoi, registri su pelli bovine grezze e semilavorate e processi di deforestazione; sono stati inoltre considerati dati geospaziali relativi alle aree deforestate e alla localizzazione dei mattatoi e delle concerie; da ultimo sono stati considerati dati relativi al commercio di pelli e prodotti derivati tra Brasile e Italia. Nessun intervallo di tempo specifico è stato selezionato a priori per l’analisi dei dati: le serie temporali sono state selezionate a seconda della disponibilità di dati e delle necessità relative alle singole tipologie di analisi impiegate. Dai risultati emerge che la filiera delle pelli ha un rischio deforestazione significativo nonostante il pellame non sia un prodotto primario dell’allevamento bovino e un fattore diretto di deforestazione. Il rischio si colloca principalmente nel legame con le attività zootecniche e di allevamento, nell’incompleta tracciabilità della filiera così come nel commercio interno e internazionale di pelle. Le pelli prodotte in Brasile e importate per essere successivamente lavorate in Italia incorporano un livello significativo di rischio di deforestazione a causa degli intensi scambi commerciali tra i due Paesi. Il rischio di deforestazione legato alle pelli è affrontato in maniera diversa dai diversi discorsi esistenti sul tema e pone in evidenza come l’articolarsi della trama di ciascun discorso comporti l’attenzione sia su aspetti visibili che invisibili rispetto alla sostenibilità, all’equità e alla legalità delle filiere in questione. I risultati mettono in risalto l’importanza del ruolo e della voce degli agricoltori di frontiera, mostrando come la loro visione e interpretazione informi un discorso politico incentrato sul tema della sopravvivenza e del sostentamento. È quindi necessaria una maggiore attenzione da parte dell’opinione pubblica sulle filiere produttive, ivi comprese quelle delle pelli e dei prodotti derivati, e in particolare sulle relazioni non eque di potere, così come sull’importanza di un’inclusione significativa di gruppi vulnerabili della popolazione. L’industria del pellame e i grandi marchi dovrebbero essere più proattivi, inviando al mercato un chiaro segnale per cui la deforestazione e altre forme di illegalità non possono essere tollerate. Una piena tracciabilità della filiera e il coinvolgimento dei produttori è imprescindibile se l’industria mira a produrre e commerciare prodotti che non siano responsabili di o coinvolti in processi di deforestazione.
Large-scale industrial agricultural production and commodity trade are increasingly linked to deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics. This link is described via the concept of ‘deforestation risk’. Agricultural products whose production or extraction involves deforestation and native vegetation clearing are classified as forest-risk commodities. Beef, soybean, palm oil, and timber - the commodities with deforestation risk - are considered the “big four” of forest-risk commodities. Due to the complexity of global production and trade systems there are commodities that possess the risk of originating from deforested areas without being direct deforestation/forest degradation drivers. This dimension of the risk is either overlooked or held as secondary in the debates about commodity-driven deforestation. Differentiation between commodities with direct causal links and those with the exposure to deforestation in their supply chain has impact on how responsibility and accountability is constructed both through legal measures and self-regulatory voluntary standards. Better conceptualization is needed to approximate the usage of the terms both in grey and academic literature and to achieve science backed policy decisions. By referring to the case of bovine leather (hereinafter just leather) and the case of Brazilian leather production we aim to expand the conceptualization of deforestation risk. We focus on leather for multiple reasons. First, while the role of cattle in driving deforestation in Brazil is subject to increasing public scrutiny, the leather commodity chain largely remains in the shadow. Except for a few leading firms in leather goods, public discussion about transparency across the leather supply chain and associated deforestation risk is mostly absent. Second, leather supply chains are more complex compared to beef and involve many national and international players, including intermediary sellers, tanneries, fashion houses, etc. This creates traceability gaps and complicates identifying deforestation risk along the chain. Third, leather is a commodity with inherently uneven power relations among the actors in the supply chain and with costs and benefits unevenly distributed across the chain. Often considered a waste or by-product to beef meat, actors in the leather supply chain argue to lack important negotiation power to impose their standards and no deforestation conditions upon producers. At the same time, downstream actors of leather supply chain, such as fashion brands, are more susceptible to reputational risks compared to that of beef. While upstream farmers lack resources to adhere to sustainability standards and hardly get any financial compensation for the skin of their cattle, finished leather products are often regarded as luxury products presenting very high price margins for producing/trading brands. This research employs both primary and secondary data. Primary data is mostly qualitative and entails thirty-nine semi-structured, recorded, and transcribed interviews, in the form of both face-to-face and video call interviews conducted during extended field visit to Brazil in May-August 2018. This data is mainly used for the discourse analysis in the second chapter and for interpretative and contextual purposes to analyse the secondary quantitative data in the other chapters. Secondary information consists of extensive literature review, statistical data on annual slaughter, bovine hide/leather registry and annual deforestation, geospatial data on deforestation, slaughterhouse and tannery locations, as well as, trade statistics on Brazilian-Italian leather trade. No specific time frame was chosen to analyse the data and time series for each data set were selected according to availability and the specific requirements of each type of analysis. The results show that bovine leather supply chains possess significant risk of embedded deforestation despite leather not being a primary product of cattle ranching and driver of deforestation. The risk reveals itself in the link with cattle ranching, incomplete supply chain traceability, as well as in interstate and international leather trade. The Brazilian-Italian bovine leather has significant level of embedded deforestation due to intensive trade relations. Different discourses articulate deforestation risk of bovine leather differently and highlight how the storylines of each discourse bring attention both to what is made visible and invisible in relation to sustainability, legitimacy, and fairness. The results emphasise the importance of the role and voice of frontier settlers, by presenting how their storylines inform a political discourse on livelihoods. There is a need for increased public scrutiny of supply chains, including the leather one, and for special attention to unequal power relations and the importance of meaningful inclusion of vulnerable groups and populations. The leather industry and big brands need to be more proactive by sending clear market signals that deforestation and other illegalities are not tolerated. Full coverage and traceability of the supply chain and engagement with the producers is necessary if the industry wants to produce and trade deforestation-free products.

The author investigates the voice in diverse genres and styles, documenting and interpreting vocal performance through a contextual analysis of specifically chosen repertoire. This repertoire is drawn from collaboration with two musical groups, the Renaissance Players and Coda and from the author's artistic direction and presentation of four diverse recitals: American Songs, Italian Baroque, American Folk and Theatre and Nostalgia. Each recital is treated as a separate case study, in which the process of selecting, rehearsing and performing the repertoire is closely examined. Recordings and selected examples of scores are included to illustrate the findings. The discussion concludes with a synthesis of context and process within the framework of a global perspective celebrating diversity.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychological disorder characterized by the persistent preoccupation with one or more perceived defects in physical appearance that are not observable or appear slight to others (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), which is currently included into the “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders” category of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5; APA, 2013). Although any body part can be the focus of concerns, the most common areas of concern in people with BDD are the skin (presence of acne or scars), the hair (hair loss, thinning, or excessive facial or body hair), and the nose (shape or size; Phillips 2006; Phillips & Diaz 1997; Phillips, McElroy, Keck, Pope, & Hudson, 1993; Veale et al., 1996), and individuals with BDD may be concerned with multiple body parts at the same time (Phillips et al., 1993; 2005). In response to the appearance concerns, individuals with BDD engage in repetitive and time-consuming behaviors and mental actions focused on examining, being reassured about, and hiding perceived defects (Phillips & Diaz, 1997; Phillips, Menard, Fay, & Weisberg, 2005). The most common are: camouflaging (e.g., with hair, makeup, body position, or sunglasses), checking the perceived defect in mirrors or other reflecting surfaces (e.g., windows), excessively grooming (e.g., applying makeup or styling hair), seeking reassurance from family and friends about the defect, repeatedly touching the disliked areas, and comparing one’s appearance with that of other people (Phillips, 2009; Phillips & Diaz, 1997; Phillips et al., 2005; Veale & Riley, 2001). Behaviors are unlimited (Phillips, 1998) and can include seeking plastic surgery or cosmetic medical treatments in order to reduce the perceived defects (Crerand, Phillips, Menard, & Fay, 2005; Phillips, Grant, Siniscalchi, & Albertini, 2001); these procedures, however, are not beneficial (Crerand et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 2001) and do not typically result in a decrease of BDD symptoms severity (Crerand et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 1993; Phillips et al., 2001). Rather, some patients with BDD experience symptoms exacerbation and development of new appearance concerns (Crerand et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 2001; Veale, 2000; Veale et al., 1996). In addition to core concerns about appearance, BDD is characterized by low self-esteem, high perfectionism, and high comorbidity rate (Phillips, 2006; Phillips et al., 1993; Phillips et al., 2005). The most common associated disorders are: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Anorexia Nervosa (AN; Dingemans, van Rood, de Groot, & van Furth, 2012; Grant, Kim, & Eckert, 2002; Gunstad & Phillips, 2003). Despite increased awareness of BDD in recent years, it continues to be an under-studied disorder (Buhlmann & Winter, 2011; Buhlmann et al., 2010), particularly in the Italian context. Indeed, little is known about BDD prevalence and phenomenology in Italy, and no data are available on BDD prevalence rates using DSM-5 criteria (APA, 2013) in the Italian general population. Therefore, the current dissertation aimed at assessing BDD prevalence, phenomenology, associated clinical features, and at risk populations through three studies. The first study aimed at exploring the prevalence and the phenomenology of BDD in an Italian community sample and its associated clinical features such as self-esteem, perfectionistic traits, social anxiety, depressive, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Six hundred and fifteen community individuals completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing the above-mentioned clinical features. Results showed that 10 (1.63%) individuals met DSM-5 criteria (APA, 2013) for BDD. Hair (n = 4; 4%), nose (n = 4; 4%), and teeth (n = 4; 4%) were the most common areas of concern. With respect to the associated clinical features, individuals who satisfied BDD diagnostic criteria reported lower levels of self-esteem, more severe social anxiety symptomatology, general distress, depression, and obsessive-compulsive features than people without BDD. These findings outlined that, within the Italian context, BDD is a relatively common psychological disorder associated with significant morbidity. The second study of the current dissertation focused on the shared clinical features between BDD and AN. Indeed, both the psychopathologies are severe body image disorders (Rosen, Reiter, & Orosan, 1995) characterized by body image disturbance and dissatisfaction, intrusive thoughts about appearance, and by an overemphasis on appearance in the evaluation of self-worth (Rosen & Ramirez, 1998). Furthermore, both BDD and AN are characterized by low self-esteem (Phillips, Pinto, & Jain, 2004; Rosen & Ramirez, 1998) and high levels of perfectionism (Bardone-Cone et al., 2007; Buhlmann, Etcoff, & Wilhelm, 2008; Bulik et al., 2003; Veale, 2004). Many studies underlined the high comorbidity between BDD and AN (Dingemans et al., 2012; Fenwick & Sullivan, 2011; Grant et al., 2002; Kollei, Schieber, Zwaan, Svitak, & Martin, 2013; Ruffolo, Phillips, Menard, Fay, & Weisberg, 2006), and patients with AN frequently report nonweight-related body image concerns (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002; Kollei et al., 2013). Furthermore, patients with AN and comorbid BDD report greater body image dissatisfaction and clinical symptomatology than those without comorbid BDD (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002). Therefore, the first aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of BDD and the presence of nonweight- related body image concerns in patients with AN. Secondly, the study aimed at comparing patients with AN and nonweight-related body image concerns, patients with weight-related body image concerns only and a healthy control group with respect to body image and psychological and psychopathological features. For these purposes, 61 patients with AN were divided in two groups: 39 with nonweight-related body image concerns and 22 with weight-related body image concerns only. Furthermore, a group of 61 healthy controls was recruited. Main results of this study showed that 16 (26.23%) patients with AN had probable comorbid BDD. The most common nonweight-related body image concerns were: hair (41.02%), nose (30.77%), skin (30.77%), teeth (25.64%), and height (20.51%). Moreover, patients with AN and nonweight-related body image concerns reported greater levels of psychopathology not related to eating disorder than patients with weight-related body image concerns only, in accordance with previous studies (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002). In conclusion, patients with AN and nonweight-related body image concerns showed a more severe body image disturbance unrelated to a more severe eating disorder. Lastly, the third study of the current dissertation aimed at assessing the prevalence of Muscle Dysmorphia (MD), its associated psychological features and possible predictors among 3 groups (N = 125) of Italian recreational athletes. MD is a subtype of BDD characterized by the preoccupation with the idea that one’s body is not sufficiently lean and muscular (APA, 2013; Pope, Gruber, Choi, Olivardia, & Phillips, 1997); however, individuals with MD have a normal-looking body or are even very muscular, much more than the average of people (Pope et al., 1997). The first aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and the phenomenology of MD in 3 groups of Italian participants who trained regularly for recreational purposes: 42 bodybuilders, 61 strength trainers, and 22 fitness wellness trainers. Secondly, we aimed at investigating MD related behaviours and psychological features such as self-esteem, perfectionistic traits, social anxiety and orthorexia nervosa symptoms, and general distress among groups. Lastly, we aimed at assessing the presence of associations between MD and related psychological features among the 3 groups and, with exploratory purposes, possible MD predictors among groups. Results revealed a MD prevalence of 6.4%: 4 participants (9.52%) in the bodybuilding group, 2 participants (3.28%) in the strength group, and 2 participants (9.09%) in the fitness/wellness group satisfied Pope et al. (1997) diagnostic criteria for MD. With respect to MD associated cognitive and behavioural symptoms, the bodybuilding group reported more frequently to think about taking anabolic- androgenic steroids (AAS), to assume more than 2 daily grams of proteins, and to experience more beliefs about being smaller and weaker than desired or wishes to be more muscular than the other groups, whereas this group reported more MD general symptomatology only with respect to the fitness/wellness group. Moreover, the strength group reported to set higher standards for themselves than the other two groups. Finally, different correlational patterns among group emerged, as well as different MD predictors. Specifically, social anxiety symptoms resulted significant predictors of MD symptomatology for both the bodybuilding and the strength group, whereas no predictors emerged for the fitness/wellness group. In conclusion, results of this study underlined that the pursuit of a lean and muscular physique in bodybuilding is not always associated with MD and related psychological features. To conclude, this dissertation provides clinical hints as far as concern both preventive strategies and psychological treatment implications for BDD across at risk populations.
Il Disturbo di Dismorfismo Corporeo (Body Dysmorphic Disorder; BDD) è un disturbo psicologico caratterizzato dalla persistente preoccupazione per la presenza di uno o più presunti difetti nell’aspetto fisico che, tuttavia, appaiono agli altri come lievi o non osservabili (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Attualmente il BDD è classificato all’interno della categoria diagnostica “Disturbo Ossessivo-Compulsivo e Disturbi Correlati” nella quinta edizione del Manuale Diagnostico e Statistico dei Disturbi Mentali (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition [DSM-5], APA, 2013). Le aree del corpo maggiormente oggetto di preoccupazione nelle persone con BDD sono la pelle (presenza di acne o di cicatrici), i capelli (perdita di capelli, capelli fini o eccessiva peluria), e il naso (forma o dimensione; Phillips 2006; Phillips & Diaz 1997; Phillips, McElroy, Keck, Pope, & Hudson, 1993; Veale et al., 1996), nonostante ogni area del corpo possa rappresentare il focus della preoccupazione. Le persone con BDD, inoltre, possono essere preoccupate per difetti presenti in più aree del corpo contemporaneamente (Phillips et al., 1993; 2005). In risposta alle preoccupazioni per l’aspetto fisico, le persone con BDD mettono generalmente in atto comportamenti ripetitivi e azioni mentali volti a esaminare, cercare rassicurazioni e a nascondere i presunti difetti nell’aspetto fisico (Phillips & Diaz, 1997; Phillips, Menard, Fay, & Weisberg, 2005). Tra i più comuni rientrano il camuffamento (ad esempio, con il make-up, con le posizioni del corpo o con gli occhiali da sole), il controllo dei presunti difetti in specchi o in altre superfici riflettenti (ad esempio, nelle vetrine), l’eccessivo grooming (ad esempio, applicando ripetutamente make-up o attraverso le acconciature dei capelli), la ricerca di rassicurazione da parte di familiari e amici, il toccare ripetutamente le aree del corpo oggetto di preoccupazione e il confrontare il proprio aspetto fisico con quello delle altre persone (Phillips, 2009; Phillips & Diaz, 1997; Phillips et al., 2005; Veale & Riley, 2001). I comportamenti ripetitivi e le azioni mentali che le persone con BDD possono mettere in atto sono potenzialmente illimitati (Phillips, 1998), e includono la ricerca di interventi di chirurgia plastica e medicina estetica che hanno l’obiettivo di eliminare i presunti difetti nell’aspetto fisico (Crerand, Phillips, Menard, & Fay, 2005; Phillips, Grant, Siniscalchi, & Albertini, 2001); queste procedure, tuttavia, non determinano una riduzione della gravità del BDD e della sintomatologia clinica associata (Crerand et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 1993; Phillips et al., 2001). Inoltre, a seguito di interventi di chirurgia plastica e medicina estetica, alcuni pazienti con BDD possono presentare un peggioramento della sintomatologia clinica e sviluppare nuove aree corporee di preoccupazione (Crerand et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 2001; Veale, 2000; Veale et al., 1996). Oltre alle preoccupazioni inerenti l’aspetto fisico, le persone con BDD sono caratterizzate da bassi livelli di autostima, elevato perfezionismo ed elevati tassi di comorbidità (Phillips, 2006; Phillips et al., 1993; Phillips et al., 2005). I disturbi che più frequentemente si associano in comorbidità con il BDD sono il Disturbo Depressivo Maggiore (DDM), il Disturbo d’Ansia Sociale, il Disturbo Ossessivo-Compulsivo (DOC) e l’Anoressia Nervosa (AN; Dingemans, van Rood, de Groot, & van Furth, 2012; Grant, Kim, & Eckert, 2002; Gunstad & Phillips, 2003). Nonostante il crescente interesse nei confronti del BDD negli ultimi anni, questo disturbo continua a essere poco studiato (Buhlmann & Winter, 2011; Buhlmann et al., 2010), soprattutto nel contesto Italiano. Infatti, le ricerche volte a indagare la prevalenza e la fenomenologia del BDD nel contesto Italiano sono limitate, e non esistono attualmente dati di prevalenza secondo i criteri diagnostici del DSM-5 (APA, 2013). Di conseguenza, l’obiettivo principale del presente contributo è quello di indagare la prevalenza del BDD, la sua fenomenologia, le caratteristiche cliniche associate e le popolazioni a rischio attraverso tre studi. Il primo studio del presente contributo si è posto come obiettivo quello di indagare la prevalenza e le caratteristiche fenomenologiche del BDD, così come le caratteristiche cliniche associate (autostima, perfezionismo, ansia sociale e sintomi depressivi e ossessivo-compulsivi). Seicento quindici individui appartenenti alla popolazione generale hanno completato una batteria di questionari self-report volti a valutare la prevalenza e le caratteristiche fenomenologiche del BDD, così come le caratteristiche cliniche associate sopra descritte. I risultati ottenuti hanno mostrato che 10 (1.63%) partecipanti hanno soddisfatto i criteri diagnostici per il BDD secondo il DSM-5 (APA, 2013). Capelli (n = 4; 4%), naso (n = 4; 4%) e denti (n = 4; 4%) sono risultate le aree del corpo di maggiore preoccupazione tra coloro che hanno soddisfatto i criteri diagnostici per il BDD. In riferimento alle caratteristiche cliniche associate, gli individui che hanno soddisfatto i criteri diagnostici per il BDD hanno riportato minore autostima e maggiore ansia sociale, distress generale e sintomi depressivi e ossessivo-compulsivi rispetto a coloro che non hanno soddisfatto i criteri diagnostici per il BDD. Questi risultati mettono in evidenza che, nel contesto Italiano, il BDD è un disturbo relativamente comune e che si associa a elevata sintomatologia clinica. Il secondo studio del presente contributo ha preso in considerazione sia il BDD sia l’AN. Sia il BDD sia l’AN, infatti, sono gravi disturbi dell’immagine corporea (Rosen, Reiter, & Orosan, 1995) caratterizzati da insoddisfazione per il corpo, pensieri intrusivi rispetto all’aspetto fisico e da una sovrastima dell’importanza dell’aspetto fisico nella valutazione del valore di sé (Rosen & Ramirez, 1998). Inoltre, sono entrambi caratterizzati da bassa autostima Phillips, Pinto, & Jain, 2004; Rosen & Ramirez, 1998) e da elevati livelli di perfezionismo (Bardone-Cone et al., 2007; Buhlmann, Etcoff, & Wilhelm, 2008; Bulik et al., 2003; Veale, 2004). Numerosi studi hanno sottolineato la presenza di elevata comorbidità tra BDD e AN (Dingemans et al., 2012; Fenwick & Sullivan, 2011; Grant et al., 2002; Kollei, Schieber, Zwaan, Svitak, & Martin, 2013; Ruffolo, Phillips, Menard, Fay, & Weisberg, 2006); inoltre, i pazienti con AN frequentemente riportano la presenza di preoccupazioni non relative al peso e alla forma del corpo (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002; Kollei et al., 2013). I pazienti con AN e BDD in comorbidità, inoltre, presentano una maggiore insoddisfazione per il corpo e una maggiore sintomatologia clinica rispetto a coloro che non presentano BDD in comorbidità (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002). Di conseguenza, il primo obiettivo del presente studio è stato quello di indagare la prevalenza del BDD e la presenza di preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo in pazienti con AN. In secondo luogo, lo studio si è proposto di confrontare pazienti con AN e preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo, pazienti con AN e preoccupazioni inerenti esclusivamente il peso e la forma del corpo e un gruppo di controllo rispetto all’immagine corporea e alle caratteristiche psicologiche e psicopatologiche associate. Per questi scopi, 61 pazienti donne con AN sono state suddivise in due gruppi: 39 pazienti con preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo e 22 pazienti con preoccupazioni inerenti esclusivamente il peso e la forma del corpo. Inoltre, un gruppo di controllo composto da 61 donne appartenenti alla popolazione generale è stato reclutato. I risultati principali dello studio hanno mostrato che 16 (26.23%) pazienti con AN presentavano BDD in comorbidità e le più comuni preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo sono risultate i capelli (41.02%), il naso (30.77%), la pelle (30.77%), i denti (25.64%), e l’altezza (20.51%). Le pazienti con AN e preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo, inoltre, hanno presentato maggiore psicopatologia non inerente i disturbi del comportamento alimentare rispetto alle pazienti con AN e preoccupazioni esclusivamente inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo, in accordo con i risultati emersi in altri studi (Dingemans et al., 2012; Grant et al., 2002). Di conseguenza, le pazienti con AN e preoccupazioni non inerenti il peso e la forma del corpo hanno riportato una maggiore compromissione dell’immagine corporea non correlata a una maggiore gravità del disturbo alimentare. Infine, il terzo studio del presente contributo mirava a indagare la prevalenza del Disturbo di Dismorfismo Muscolare (Muscle Dysmorphia; MD), le caratteristiche psicologiche associate e i possibili predittori in tre gruppi (N = 125) di atleti Italiani non professionisti. MD è un sottotipo di BDD caratterizzato dalla preoccupazione che il proprio corpo non sia sufficientemente muscoloso (APA, 2013; Pope, Gruber, Choi, Olivardia, & Phillips, 1997); tuttavia, gli individui con MD hanno un corpo normale o sono addirittura molto muscolosi, molto più della media delle persone (Pope et al., 1997). Il primo obiettivo del presente studio è stato quello di indagare la prevalenza e la fenomenologia della MD in 3 gruppi di individui praticanti sport a livello ricreativo: 42 bodybuilders, 61 atleti praticanti sollevamento pesi e 22 atleti che si allenano in palestra. In secondo luogo, sono stati valutati i comportamenti e le caratteristiche psicologiche associate all’MD, tra cui autostima, perfezionismo, ansia sociale, ortoressia nervosa e distress generale tra i 3 gruppi di sportivi. Infine, il presente studio si è posto l’obiettivo di valutare la presenza di associazioni tra MD e le caratteristiche psicologiche associate nei tre gruppi e, con scopo esplorativo, di indagare i possibili predittori della MD tra i tre gruppi. I risultati dello studio hanno mostrato una prevalenza dell’MD del 6.4%: 4 partecipanti (9.52%) nel gruppo dei bodybuilders, 2 partecipanti (3.28%) nel gruppo degli atleti che sollevano pesi e 2 partecipanti (9.09%) nel gruppo di coloro che si allenano in palestra hanno soddisfatto i criteri di Pope e colleghi (1997) per la MD. Rispetto alle cognizioni e ai comportamenti tipici associati alla MD, il gruppo dei bodybuilders ha riportato più frequentemente di pensare di assumere steroidi anabolizzanti (anabolic-androgenic steroids; AAS), di assumere più di 2 gr di proteine al giorno e di avere pensieri relativi al voler essere più muscolosi rispetto agli altri due gruppi di sportivi. Per quanto riguarda la sintomatologia generale tipica della MD, invece, essa è stata riportata in maniera più elevata dal gruppo dei bodybuilders solo rispetto al gruppo che si allena in palestra. Inoltre, il gruppo di sportivi che solleva pesi ha riportato maggiori livelli di perfezionismo rivolto verso il sé rispetto agli altri due gruppi. Infine, diversi pattern correlazionali sono emersi tra i tre gruppi, così come diversi predittori. Nello specifico, la sintomatologia di ansia sociale è risultata predittiva della sintomatologia MD sia per il gruppo dei bodybuilders sia per il gruppo degli atleti che sollevano pesi, mentre non sono emersi predittori significativi nel gruppo di sportivi che si allena in palestra. In conclusione, i risultati del presente studio sottolineano che il perseguimento di un fisico muscoloso negli atleti che praticano bodybuilding non è necessariamente associato alla MD e alle caratteristiche psicologiche a essa associate. Per concludere, questo contributo fornisce spunti clinici, strategie preventive e implicazioni per il trattamento del BDD nelle popolazioni considerate a rischio.

The mirror appears frequently in funerary contexts in the Greek colonies Locri Epizefiri and Metaponto and this thesis endeavours to rebuild the contexts of these mirrors using the approach of contextual archaeology. To explore the mirror’s contemporary function and meaning within the burial record and to discern why mirrors appear within a funerary setting, a chain of contexts is followed from the archaeological material to iconographical analysis, to comparative archaeological data, widening the contextual circles step by step. In the first part, the appearance of the graves with mirrors in Locri Epiezefiri and Metaponto is examined. The result is then compared with the iconographical evidence and the comparative archaeological data. The thesis further examines the mirror’s female association and discusses how the colonies of Magna Graecia should be studied as a third culture in accordance with the middle ground. Based on the results from the analysis, the discussion argues for a connection between mirrors and the Orphic-Dionysiac-Pythagorean cult, especially pronounced in Magna Graecia during this period, but also possible ritualistic functions such as divination and the notion of “female knowledge”.

At the end of the fourteenth century Jean d’Arras rewrote a popular folktale. The tale told how Mélusine, a fairy who was serpent from the navel down every Saturday, married a knight and founded the fortress of Lusignan. In his introduction to the tale Jean d’Arras presents the ideas of four authority figures to convince the reader that fantastical things are possible and that his work should be taken seriously. These authority figures are David, Aristotle, Paul and Gervaise de Tilbury. It is the contention of this thesis that Jean d’Arras presents these figures in his introduction to provide context and serve as doubles for characters in the narration as well as convince the reader to take the work seriously. Through his allusion to Tilbury, Jean d’Arras establishes a context and a doubling for the story-line which he so repetitiously tells. Through his allusion to David we see a doubling for Raymondin, who in fact bears the name of earthly king, a position which David held in archetype. Through his allusion to Paul we see a doubling for Geoffrey à la grande dent, enfant terrible who becomes a responsible leader. And finally we suggest that Aristotle is a type for Jean d’Arras himself, who is presenting to his reader a methodical study of the telos of earthly kings. The thesis contains a discussion of these four individuals, how they were viewed in the late fourteenth-century and what the implications are for reading the text with them in mind. When viewed in the light of these comparisons the text can be seen, not only as a fantastical story, but as political commentary. Jean d’Arras glorifies the Duke of Berry, his patron, by connecting him to a supernatural being, but he also suggests throughout the narration, that the true justification for nobility and political power is not a supernatural connection, but a practical ability to deal with earthly affairs.

The aim of the thesis was to provide a contribution toward the validation of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (JEPQ-R) in the Italian context, providing in addition further evidence about the meaning and functioning of its Lie scale (social desirability scale). The first theoretical and introductory chapters of the essay are devoted to describing the main theories in the field of personality psychology. Great attention has been addressed to traits theories and to the development of personality. Furthermore special attention has been devoted to the Eysenck model, well-known as "Giants Three" or PEN model, because of the names of the three main dimensions (or traits) at the basis of the theory: Psychoticism (or tough-mindedness), Extraversion (as opposed to introversion ) and Neuroticism (as opposed to emotional stability). The experimental part, instead, has been organized into four main studies. The first, specifically, was aimed to provide a contribution toward the validation of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (JEPQ-R) in the Italian context. To this purpose in the first step of the research the instrument was translated from English to Italian and afterward back-translated by a native English speaker, for the assessment of linguistic and cultural equivalence. Finally the questionnaire was administered to a large sample of adolescents (N = 595) aged between 13 and 17, and data were analyzed in order to test the metric characteristics of the instrument. Specifically reliability, validity, factor structure and its metric invariance (across genders and two age classes: 13-15 and 16-17) were tested; results supported the adequacy of the metric characteristics of the instrument as well as its invariance. Analyses suggested that scales have the same meaning across groups and reliability coefficients were in line with the results of the original version. Moreover validity coefficients of PEN-L scale, assessed in relation to another well-known validated questionnaire, such as: BFQ-2, provided support to the adequacy of the questionnaire. Further studies, moreover, were performed in order to better understand the functioning and meaning of the Lie scale of the questionnaire. Specifically, the second study analyzed in detail the factor structure of the scale and its strong invariance across two conditions: standard and "fake-good" instructions. Results supported the one-factor solution and its invariance. The third study was, instead, aimed to verify the effectiveness of Lie scale in identifying dissimulation tendencies. In this study the abbreviated version of the questionnaire (JEPQR-Abbreviated), comprising 24 items only (six items for each scale: PEN-Lie), was used. In the first part of the research the adequacy of the metric characteristics of the questionnaire (reliability and factor structure) was evaluated, while, subsequently some analyses were performed in order to test the effectiveness of the scale as fake-detector. Analyses were performed comparing self and informant-report and results suggested a limited effectiveness of the scale in assessing dissimulation tendencies, providing, on the contrary, some support for an interpretation more tied to a social conformity disposition. This suggestion was finally tested in the fourth study. In this research a structural equation model was tested in order to explore relations between three religiosity facets (intrinsic orientation, extrinsic orientation, and quest orientations), PEN traits and Lie scale, conceived as a social conformity measure. The relationship between social desirability scales and religiosity, even though rather controversial, is in fact well known in literature. In this study it was, therefore, suggested that this curious relationship could be better explained, conceiving Lie scale as the measure of a social acquiescence disposition. Specifically, in the study it was assumed that the relationship between PEN-L traits and religiosity could be mediated by four sets of values described in the Schwartz model (second-order factors: openness to change, conservatism, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement). In particular, it was hypothesized that the Lie scale, representing a social conformity measure, would have reported strong relations with conservatism-related values (security, tradition, conformity), which in turn were expected to show a role in religious experience. These assumptions were substantially supported by the empirical data of the present work and moreover some contributions were provided about the controversial relations, described in literature, between PEN traits and religiosity. The thesis ends with a summary of the main results and with a comprehensive and systematic discussion about the main findings obtained in the research.
Lo scopo della tesi è stato quello di fornire un contributo alla validazione del questionario Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (JEPQ-R) nel contesto italiano, approfondendo inoltre il significato e il funzionamento della scala Lie (scala di desiderabilità sociale) in esso contenuta. Nella parte iniziale dell’elaborato alcuni capitoli teorici e introduttivi sono stati dedicati a delineare le principali teorizzazioni nell’ambito della psicologia della personalità. Dopo un excursus volto a chiarire le principali teorie sull’argomento, ampio spazio è stato dedicato alle teorie dei tratti e alle formulazioni rivolte all’età evolutiva. Inoltre una speciale attenzione è stata indirizzata al modello di Eysenck, noto anche come modello “Giants Three” o modello PEN, dal nome delle tre dimensioni (o tratti) alla base della teoria: Psicoticismo (o mentalità dura), Estroversione (opposta all’introversione) e Nevroticismo (opposto alla stabilità emotiva). La parte empirica dell’elaborato è stata, invece, articolata in quattro principali studi. Il primo, in particolare, è stato dedicato a fornire un contributo alla validazione del questionario Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (JEPQ-R) nel contesto italiano. A tale scopo il questionario è stato dapprima tradotto dall’inglese e successivamente sottoposto al vaglio di un esperto madrelingua che potesse valutare l’equivalenza culturale e linguistica della versione tradotta. Il questionario è stato, infine, somministrato ad un campione di adolescenti (N=595) di età compresa tra i 13 e i 17 anni ed i dati raccolti sono stati accuratamente analizzati al fine di testare le caratteristiche metriche dello strumento. In particolare sono state verificate attendibilità, validità, struttura fattoriale e invarianza metrica delle scale attraverso generi (maschie e femmine) e classi di età (13-15 e 16-17 anni). I risultati hanno confermato l’adeguatezza delle caratteristiche metriche dello strumento e la sua invarianza. Le analisi hanno chiarito che le scale hanno lo stesso significato nei diversi gruppi considerati e i coefficienti di affidabilità si sono dimostrati in linea con quelli della versione originale. Inoltre i coefficienti di validità, calcolati utilizzando come strumento di confronto il noto questionario BFQ-2 (Big Five Questionnaire-2), hanno fornito supporto all’adeguatezza del questionario JEPQ-R. I successivi studi sono stati dedicati, invece, ad approfondire funzionamento e significato della scala Lie del questionario. In particolare il secondo studio ha verificato attentamente la struttura fattoriale della scala e la sua invarianza scalare attraverso due condizioni: istruzioni standard e istruzioni “fake-good”. I risultati hanno confermato la struttura mono-fattoriale della scala e la sua invarianza. Il terzo studio è stato finalizzato a verificare l’efficacia della scala Lie nell’identificare le tendenze a dissimulare. In questo studio è stata utilizzata la versione abbreviata del questionario (JEPQR-Abbreviated), composta da 24 item (6 item per ogni scala: PEN-Lie). Nella prima parte della ricerca è stata valutata l’adeguatezza delle caratteristiche metriche del questionario (attendibilità e struttura fattoriale). Successivamente, invece, alcune analisi sono state effettuate al fine di testare l’efficacia della scala come fake-detector. Le analisi sono state condotte confrontando self e informant-report ed hanno permesso di attribuire alla scala una limitata capacità di valutare le tendenze a dissimulare, suggerendo che lo strumento possa essere meglio inteso come una misura di conformismo sociale. Tale possibilità è stata, infine, verificata nel quarto studio. In questa ricerca attraverso un modello di equazioni strutturali sono state esplorate le relazioni fra tre orientamenti religiosi (religiosità intrinseca, estrinseca e quest), i tratti PEN e la scala Lie, interpretata come misura di conformismo sociale. La relazione tra scale di desiderabilità sociale e religiosità è, infatti, ben nota in letteratura anche se piuttosto controversa. Nello studio è stato quindi ipotizzato che tale curiosa relazione possa essere meglio spiegata attribuendo alla scala Lie un significato non tanto legato alla misurazione della dissimulazione ma piuttosto al conformismo sociale. In particolare nello studio si è ipotizzato che le relazioni tra i tratti PEN-L e la religiosità fossero mediate dai quattro orientamenti valoriali descritti nel modello di Schwartz (fattori di secondo ordine: Apertura al cambiamento, Autoaffermazione, Autotrascendenza e Conservatorismo). Nello specifico è stato ipotizzato che la scala Lie, rappresentando la misura di un tratto di acquiescenza sociale, avrebbe riportato forti legami con i valori di conservatorismo (sicurezza, tradizione, rispetto delle convenzioni), che si riteneva avrebbero dimostrato a loro volta di essere legati all’esperienza religiosa. Tali ipotesi sono state supportate dai dati empirici, che, inoltre, hanno chiarito anche i controversi legami descritti in letteratura tra i tratti PEN e la religiosità. Il lavoro si conclude con un sommario dei principali risultati ottenuti e con una discussione generale che mette in luce i punti di maggiore interesse con un approccio globale ed organico.

The issues addressed in this thesis present one of the central themes in the Italian historiographical debate, especially on the link between national / international level and how it has interacted with the history of the second half of the twentieth century. In this context, however, it became necessary to consider the first the events related to the eastern border of Italian before 1945, as these are closely linked to subsequent developments in a cause / effect is very important in order to understand the dynamics of the period covered by the research. The purpose of this work is to investigate and study how this issue has been politically present in the debate of those parties which were protagonists in the first Republican era, such as the Italian Communist Party, the Christian Democrats and the Italian Social Movement, examining how have been formed their positions about the Italian eastern border question.

Content marketing is a discipline that is emerged in recent years, because of the inefficiency of traditional marketing methods. Today users need interesting and valuable information, because spending most of their time on internet and social media, they need high-quality contents, able to catch consumers’ attention, to be helpful, to entertain, and to educate. Companies started used content marketing because it’s a discipline that can help them to build stronger relationships with their consumers, putting the latter in the center and making them the most important part of the strategy. There are many types of content and also different types of motivations that push consumers to interact with a content: for this reason, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the online presence of the most remunerative Italian wineries on Facebook, and discover if different types of contents can generate different types of reactions. This thesis is divided into four parts: the first part introduces the history of content marketing, facing what it is and which are the advantages of this technique, the second part discusses the inbound marketing and the content marketing strategy, the third part is a collection of the principal studies made in this field, and the last one is the analytical part, which analyses the posts of the Italian wineries in order to figure out which are the most engaging contents.

Nossa pesquisa visa a compreender como as relações pessoais se constroem por meio da linguagem. Para isso, consideramos o contexto social, cultural e interacional que, combinados de diferentes maneiras, moldam os pensamentos, as falas e as atitudes de cada indivíduo. Intentamos por meio da análise de interações autênticas explorar e evidenciar aspectos pragmáticos presentes no português brasileiro e no italiano que constituem e influenciam o fazer discursivo dos falantes em sala de aula. A partir da análise dos atos de fala discordância e desaprovação realizados por falantes bilíngues de italiano e português brasileiro em contexto escolar de uma escola bilíngue ítalo-brasileira no Brasil, a pesquisa evidencia (i) os componentes pragmáticos das duas línguas relacionados à cortesia verbal e, mais especificamente, ao uso de estratégias atenuadoras; (ii) se e em que medida foram realizadas estratégias atenuadoras na produção desses atos de fala por crianças bilíngues, em contexto ítalo-brasileiro, durante a interação em sala de aula e quais são os efeitos da sua (não) utilização; (iii) em que medida existem analogias e diferenças na utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em italiano e português. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de videogravações das aulas, de uma entrevista preliminar com as professoras e de um questionário para os alunos. A partir da análise dos dados, verificamos que as discordâncias em língua portuguesa apresentavam um número maior de procedimentos atenuadores em relação àquelas em língua italiana. Notamos que a utilização de procedimentos atenuadores nos atos de discordância em português objetivava a prevenção de conflitos interacionais e nas relações pessoais, logo, a atenuação relacionava-se à cortesia verbal em sala de aula. Nas discordâncias em língua italiana, verificamos que o uso de procedimentos atenuadores objetivava, além da prevenção, a reparação da ameaça à imagem do interlocutor e, algumas vezes, exercia a função de auto proteger o falante. Desse modo, a atenuação nem sempre estava relacionada à cortesia verbal. Além disso, nos atos de discordância em língua italiana observamos uma menor utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em relação as discordâncias produzidas em língua portuguesa. A ausência de atenuadores pode estar relacionada a uma tendência da língua italiana em realizar as discordâncias de forma imediata e direta, em sala de aula. A análise dos dados de desaprovação revelou um equilíbrio entre presença e ausência de estratégias atenuadoras nos atos realizados em ambas as línguas. A presença de táticas atenuadoras está relacionada à cortesia verbal, em que o ato intrinsecamente ameaçador da face (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act - intrinsic FTA) da desaprovação era suavizado, tentando evitar conflito na relação. Observou-se assim que, quando a desaprovação era feita de forma atenuada podia ser interpretada com um pedido e, quando era expressa sem o uso de atenuadores, aproximava-se de uma ordem.
Our research aims to understand how personal relationships are constructed through language. Therefore, we consider the social, cultural and interactional context that, combined in different ways, shapes the thoughts, speeches and attitudes of each individual. We have tried to explore and present some pragmatic aspects in the Brazilian Portuguese language and in the Italian language that constitute and influence the discursive making of the speakers in the classroom. Based on the analysis of disagreement and disapproval speech acts performed by bilingual speakers of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese in a school context of an Italian-Brazilian bilingual school in Brazil, the research has shown (i) the pragmatic components of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese related to verbal politeness and, more specifically, the usage of attenuating strategies in speech acts of disagreement and disapproval in the classroom; (ii) If and to which extent there was the use of attenuating strategies in the production of these speech acts by bilingual children, Italian-Portuguese Brazilians, during their interaction in the classroom and which are the effects of their (non) use; (iii) To which extent it was possible to identify analogies and differences in the use of attenuating procedures in Italian and Brazilian language. Data collection was done through video recordings of classes, a preliminary interview with the teachers and a questionnaire for the students. From the analysis of the data, we verified that the disagreements in the Portuguese language have presented more attenuation procedures related to the disagreements in the Italian language. We have observed that the use of attenuating procedures in the acts of disagreements in Brazilian Portuguese aimed at the prevention of interactional conflicts in personal relations, so the attenuation was related to verbal politeness in the classroom. In the disagreements in the Italian language, we have noted that the use of attenuating procedures had not only the intention of prevention, but also to repair the threat to the image of the interlocutor and sometimes exercised the function of self-protecting the speaker. Thus, attenuation was not always related to verbal politeness. In addition, in acts of disagreement in Italian language, we have observed a greater absence of attenuating procedures in relation to the disagreements produced in Brazilian Portuguese. The absence of mitigators may be related to a possible tendency of the Italian language in making disagreements immediately and directly in the classroom. The analysis of the disapproval data has revealed a balance between the presence and the absence of attenuating strategies in the acts performed in both languages. The presence of attenuating tactics was related to verbal courtesy, in which the intrinsic FTA (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act) of disapproval was softened, trying to avoid conflict in the relationship. Thus, it was observed that when the disapproval was attenuated it could have been interpreted as a request, while, when it was expressed without the use of attenuators, it was approaching an order.

questo elaborato vuole avere la funzione di dare uno sguardo alla situazione del mercato di private equity nel contesto italiano. Analizzando le caratteristiche più rilevanti e gli aspetti quantitativi.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o léxico empregado em cartas familiares, escritas em língua italiana, por falantes italianos provenientes da região Lombardia e por seus descendentes nascidos no Brasil e residentes em São Paulo, sob duas perspectivas diferentes. Na primeira, elencaremos quais eram os assuntos mais recorrentes nas cartas, analisaremos as escolhas lexicais e verificaremos a função destas no contexto em que foram empregadas. Pretendemos, portanto, entender quais são os relatos, as histórias, as informações contidas nesses escritos, bem como o léxico empregado para a composição das cartas. A segunda perspectiva, diz respeito ao contato linguístico que houve entre italiano e português em nível lexical. Nossa proposta será demonstrar, por meio de excertos das cartas, exemplos de léxico que revelam o uso corrente da língua italiana, mesmo em contexto estrangeiro, no qual prevalecia aquele do português. Dessa forma, é nosso propósito tanto identificar e analisar o enriquecimento do leque comunicativo e cultural que esses imigrantes tiveram ao escreverem em italiano, não inibindo, porém, o uso do português (seja de maneira implícita ou explícita); como também entender se houve a formação de uma eventual variedade de italiano no interior dessa pequena comunidade.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the lexicon used in family letters, which were written in Italian by native Italian speakers from Lombardy and by their descendants who were born in Brazil and lived in São Paulo, from two different perspectives. The first one will list the most recurring topics in the letters, the lexical choices will be analyzed and their functions will be verified in the context in which they were used. Therefore, this study intends to understand the accounts, stories, and information contained in the letters, as well as the lexicon used when writing them. The second perspective is about the language contact that occurred between Italian and Portuguese at the lexical level. Excerpts from the letters were used to show examples of the lexicon, which revealed that the Italian language was widely used, regardless of the international context, in which Portuguese predominated. As a result, the study aims to identify and analyze the language and cultural enrichment that such immigrants had by writing in Italian, although it did not prevent them from using Portuguese (either explicitly or implicitly), and also understand if there has been an accidental variety of the Italian language in that small community.

Notre recherche porte sur l'analyse qualitative d'un corpus de conversations spontanées, enregistrées dans un milieu urbain en Sardaigne (Italie). Plus précisément, nous avons focalisé notre attention sur Cagliari, capitale administrative et centre principal de l'île. De nombreux éléments sont pris en compte dans le cadre de notre recherche, à partir des spécificités du point d'investigation visé - la ville - et des questions théoriques et méthodologiques qui sont forcément liées à ce contexte d'analyse : interdisciplinarité de la recherche, choix des contextes d'enquête, techniques de recueil des données, etc. La situation italienne fournit un observatoire idéal pour l'analyse des phénomènes de bilinguisme, de diglossie, de changement et mélange codique, compte tenu de la large gamme de distances structurelles entre les codes en contact. Les données constituant notre corpus consistent d'un ensemble de textes oraux recueillis en situation de conversation spontanée dans des contextes d'interaction assez variés. Ces textes se situent à des divers degrés dans une échelle de formalité ayant à ses extrêmes des situations de type " formel " (Institutions publiques : employé - usagers) et respectivement, " informel " (sortie du lycée : étudiants). L'analyse de ce type de production spontanée nous permet d'illustrer l'évolution du répertoire linguistique " sarde-italien " et plus globalement du sarde en tant que langue minoritaire et " menacée ", dans une perspective dynamique qui ne veut pas être de type " archéologique " mais vise plutôt à mettre en relief la langue sarde dans son interaction quotidienne avec la langue nationale.

Le contact entre le vénitien et le frioulan se retrouve dans tous les domaines : géographique, historique, linguistique et socio-linguistique. En l’étudiant dans la province de Pordenone, plus précisément à Bannia, nous sommes arrivée à la conclusion qu’il s’agit d’une langue qui a toutes les caractéristiques d’une zone de contacts. Le frioulan parlé dans le Frioul Occidental présente des particularités au niveau linguistique : les plus importantes sont la diphtongaison, la présence de dentales et de sonores. Le dialecte de Bannia a toutes les particularités du frioulan occidental avec des marques du vénitien. Il est l’exemple type d’une zone de transition. Il est à noter qu’au niveau socio-linguistique les habitants de Bannia gardent leur identité frioulane même s’ils intègrent l’italien et qu’ils font des emprunts à la langue vénitienne. Nous constatons que la démarche des habitants de Bannia d’intégrer le vénitien dans leur parler tend à diminuer depuis quelques années au profit de la réintégration du frioulan. Nous nous trouvons dans une situation de bilinguisme et de diglossie. Les locuteurs frioulans semblent avoir créé une langue propre, qu’ils nomment “el talian furlan”, que nous pouvons traduire par l’italien-frioulan
Le contact entre le vénitien et le frioulan se retrouve dans tous les domaines : géographique, historique, linguistique et socio-linguistique. En l’étudiant dans la province de Pordenone, plus précisément à Bannia, nous sommes arrivée à la conclusion qu’il s’agit d’une langue qui a toutes les caractéristiques d’une zone de contacts. Le frioulan parlé dans le Frioul Occidental présente des particularités au niveau linguistique : les plus importantes sont la diphtongaison, la présence de dentales et de sonores. Le dialecte de Bannia a toutes les particularités du frioulan occidental avec des marques du vénitien. Il est l’exemple type d’une zone de transition. Il est à noter qu’au niveau socio-linguistique les habitants de Bannia gardent leur identité frioulane même s’ils intègrent l’italien et qu’ils font des emprunts à la langue vénitienne. Nous constatons que la démarche des habitants de Bannia d’intégrer le vénitien dans leur parler tend à diminuer depuis quelques années au profit de la réintégration du frioulan. Nous nous trouvons dans une situation de bilinguisme et de diglossie. Les locuteurs frioulans semblent avoir créé une langue propre, qu’ils nomment “el talian furlan”, que nous pouvons traduire par l’italien-frioulan

La ricerca mira a far comprendere al lettore quali siano state le cause del prodigioso sviluppo economico Sud Coreano. A seguito di una breve panoramica della sua moderna storia economica, verranno analizzati i modelli di HRM messi in atto dai manager Coreani nel perseguimento delle loro attività. Verrà quindi analizzato il profilo culturale Coreano e si tratterà di come il Confucianesimo abbia fortemente influenzato non solo la società asiatica, ma anche il suo sistema lavorativo. Infine, verranno riportate le esperienze lavorative di professionisti Italiani che lavorano nel contesto coreano.

Mestrado em Administração e Gestão Pública
As células estaminais, em particular as do cordão umbilical, são hoje responsáveis por um conjunto de novas aplicações na área da saúde. Por este facto, foram criados bancos públicos e privados para a criopreservação das amostras de sangue materno fetal recolhidas. A Itália, apesar da sua extensa rede de bancos públicos de criopreservação de amostras de sangue do cordão umbilical (SCU) dirigida à doação (18 estruturas sanitárias), proíbe a conservação para uso privado (autólogo) no seu território. Este estudo caracteriza a situação italiana em 2010, no caso das células estaminais umbilicais, através da análise das normas envolvidas, da descrição do mercado, da actuação das agências reguladoras do sector e do estabelecimento do perfil das amostras das clientes italianas de um banco privado português que armazenam as células estaminais umbilicais para uso próprio. Com recurso a pesquisa bibliográfica, apresenta-se alguns dos aspectos teóricos de Ciência Política, especificamente em relação às liberdades individuais dos cidadãos, relacionando com alguns resultados da investigação no campo das células estaminais umbilicais. Realizou-se ainda pesquisa documental para detalhar a legislação italiana, a regulação das agências internacionais e os procedimentos das empresas públicas e privadas que actuam no sector da criopreservação de células estaminais umbilicais em Itália. Foram desenvolvidas duas pesquisas exploratórias com o objectivo de descobrir o grau de conhecimento das participantes 1) sobre as células estaminais umbilicais e 2) sobre as capacidades do Estado Italiano em oferecer os meios adequados para a recolha e a conservação destas células. Estas pesquisas serviram também para caracterizar a população italiana utilizadora do serviço de criopreservação privado e para analisar os resultados das amostras criopreservadas da referida população. Com a contraposição dos dados destas fontes, constatou-se haver falta de informação por parte dos respondentes italianos quanto às estruturas estatais de recolha de células estaminais umbilicais. Adicionalmente verificou-se, na população italiana que recorreu aos serviços do banco privado português, excesso de práticas burocráticas para a conservação particular das amostras, que inclusivamente condicionam a elegibilidade de algumas amostras para criopreservação. Os parâmetros que regulamentam a criopreservação de amostras de SCU são definidos por agências internacionais. Os critérios nos quais se baseia a legislação italiana são mais restritivos do que os do banco privado português, nomeadamente o volume mínimo da amostra de sangue (100 ml) e a idade máxima das dadoras (35 anos). Efectivamente neste trabalho observou-se que amostras que seriam rejeitadas à luz da legislação italiana apresentaram um número de células CD 34 + de acordo com os padrões que viabilizam a sua utilização em transplantes. Finalmente, verificou-se que ao empregar exigências desiguais para as criopreservações pública e privada, o Estado Italiano limita aos seus cidadãos o pleno exercício da liberdade, constitucionalmente reconhecida.
Stem cells, in particular umbilical cord stem cells, may be responsible for important new applications in health sciences. Thus, public and private cell banks are now operating in criopreservation of maternal and fetal blood samples. In Italy, umbilical cord blood donation is supported by an extensive net of public banks for criopreservation (18 structures). However, autologous (private) use of these cell samples is forbidden. The present study described the Italian situation in 2010, regarding umbilical stem cells, by the analysis of the involved normatives, market description, the role of the regulatory agencies, and by characterizing part of an Italian population that contacted with a Portuguese private cell bank. Furthermore, statistical data of the umbilical blood samples preserved for autologous use in the Portuguese private cell bank by Italians clients are herein described. Firstly, a bibliographic review related Political Science principles, mostly concerning citizen’s freedom of choice, with recent findings in the field of umbilical stem cells research. Additionally, a documental survey detailed the Italian legislation, the regulatory basis of the international agencies and the legal procedures of public and private cell banks enrolled in umbilical stem cells cryopreservation in Italy. Two exploratory surveys were conducted, aiming to characterize the level of information of the respondents regarding: 1) umbilical stem cells and 2) the Italian State ability in providing the sampling and preservation of such cells. Such surveys also allowed characterizing the Italian population that used the Portuguese private criopreservation service and some statistical data of the criopreserved samples. The present results indicated that the Italian respondents lacked information concerning the public facilities for umbilical stem cells sampling. Additionally, the Italian population that used the private bank for criopreservation, referred that there were excessive bureaucratic procedures for private cells preservation, that resulted in ineligibility of some samples for criopreservation. International agencies define the parameters that regulate umbilical cord blood criopreservation. The criteria that support the Italian legislation are more restrictive that those that guide the actions of the Portuguese private bank, namely minimum blood volume of the sample (100 mL) or the maximum age of the donor (35 years). In the present work, it is shown that samples rejected facing the Italian law, have in fact a number of viable CD 34+ cells within the range that allows the use for transplantation. Finally, it is shown that by enforcing uneven demands for public and private criopreservation practices, the Italian State limits the constitutional right of the Italian citizen to the full exercise of freedom.

La complessità della situazione economica e sociale degli ultimi anni ha richiesto alle aziende di rendicontare anche gli aspetti non prettamente economico finanziari del proprio business. In risposta a ciò alcune aziende hanno cominciato a pubblicare l’Integrated Report, un documento che consente la rendicontazione integrata di informazioni finanziarie ed extra-finanziarie. Lo scopo della ricerca di cui è oggetto il presente elaborato è quello di analizzare il livello di efficacia ed efficienza dei report integrati predisposti dalle aziende italiane. L’indagine è avvenuta attraverso la somministrazione di un questionario ad alcune delle aziende che hanno pubblicato l’IR, a società di revisione e ad investitori, principali fruitori del documento. La prima parte del lavoro offre una prospettiva teorica sul tema dell’Integrated Report affrontata dal punto di vista dei contenuti del Framework, dell’attenzione degli investitori all’analisi extra finanziaria e infine dell’asseverazione di informazioni non financial e dei relativi strumenti esistenti. La seconda parte descrive l’indagine effettuata e i risultati emersi dimostrano una convergenza di opinioni in merito all’importanza dell’IR e della rendicontazione ESG ma si riscontra una generale bassa qualità dei report a oggi pubblicati.

La tesi si inserisce nella discussione intorno al quadro del sistema politico italiano in Germania e analizza le modalità secondo le quali viene trattata la politica italiana nella stampa tedesca “di qualità” nel periodo della cosiddetta “Seconda Repubblica”. Oltre a presentare l’immagine delle istituzioni, dei partiti e dei candidati alle elezioni politiche nei media tedeschi, il lavoro illustra l’origine della percezione e i processi comunicativi che riducono la complessità della realtà nella cronaca politica estera basandosi sulle teorie di gatekeeping, news bias, news values e framing. L’analisi del lavoro quotidiano dei comunicatori mediali (ca. 90 interviste e questionari) e la content analysis di 1.024 articoli mostrano che il quadro del sistema politico italiano nella stampa tedesca non si caratterizza tanto per una valutazione negativa della politica italiana tout court, quanto piuttosto per una forte personalizzazione – con valutazioni costantemente aggiornate – intorno alle figure dei leader politici. La tesi dimostra infine come, diversamente da quanto avviene per le questioni di politica interna, l’orientamento politico delle testate non condizioni fortemente la cronaca politica estera, bensì come ai corrispondenti venga lasciata estrema libertà nella mediazione culturale tra Italia e Germania e nella valutazione dei fatti e personaggi che compongono il complesso panorama politico italiano.
In the ongoing discourse about Italy's political image in Germany, the dissertation adds to the discussion the analysis of the modalities about how the present-day image of Italy's political system is handled in the German media during the so-called “Second Republic”. More than the illustration of Italy´s political institutions, parties and leader images in German media, the paper consults theories of gatekeeping, news bias, news values, and framing handles with the origins of the perception and in particular with the communication processes that reduce the accuracy in political foreign news. The analysis of journalist's daily work through 90 interviews / questionnaires and a content analysis of 1.024 newspaper articles shows that the media image of Italy's political system is not so much characterized as permanently negative as it is a never-ending personalization of Italy's political leaders. Finally, the dissertation shows the political orientation of newspapers in contrast to national news doesn't significantly influence foreign news. Moreover it was demonstrated the processes of perception and communication that take place in foreign news is determinant. Under these restrictions the correspondents are able to use the scope of development for writing articles and judging the events and the characters of Italy's political system.

La tesi si inserisce nella discussione intorno al quadro del sistema politico italiano in Germania e analizza le modalità secondo le quali viene trattata la politica italiana nella stampa tedesca “di qualità” nel periodo della cosiddetta “Seconda Repubblica”. Oltre a presentare l’immagine delle istituzioni, dei partiti e dei candidati alle elezioni politiche nei media tedeschi, il lavoro illustra l’origine della percezione e i processi comunicativi che riducono la complessità della realtà nella cronaca politica estera basandosi sulle teorie di gatekeeping, news bias, news values e framing. L’analisi del lavoro quotidiano dei comunicatori mediali (ca. 90 interviste e questionari) e la content analysis di 1.024 articoli mostrano che il quadro del sistema politico italiano nella stampa tedesca non si caratterizza tanto per una valutazione negativa della politica italiana tout court, quanto piuttosto per una forte personalizzazione – con valutazioni costantemente aggiornate – intorno alle figure dei leader politici. La tesi dimostra infine come, diversamente da quanto avviene per le questioni di politica interna, l’orientamento politico delle testate non condizioni fortemente la cronaca politica estera, bensì come ai corrispondenti venga lasciata estrema libertà nella mediazione culturale tra Italia e Germania e nella valutazione dei fatti e personaggi che compongono il complesso panorama politico italiano.
In the ongoing discourse about Italy's political image in Germany, the dissertation adds to the discussion the analysis of the modalities about how the present-day image of Italy's political system is handled in the German media during the so-called “Second Republic”. More than the illustration of Italy´s political institutions, parties and leader images in German media, the paper consults theories of gatekeeping, news bias, news values, and framing handles with the origins of the perception and in particular with the communication processes that reduce the accuracy in political foreign news. The analysis of journalist's daily work through 90 interviews / questionnaires and a content analysis of 1.024 newspaper articles shows that the media image of Italy's political system is not so much characterized as permanently negative as it is a never-ending personalization of Italy's political leaders. Finally, the dissertation shows the political orientation of newspapers in contrast to national news doesn't significantly influence foreign news. Moreover it was demonstrated the processes of perception and communication that take place in foreign news is determinant. Under these restrictions the correspondents are able to use the scope of development for writing articles and judging the events and the characters of Italy's political system.

In the early 1960s Italy was described as a country characterized both by high disaffection and low social participation, not a picture of a healthy democracy particularly if compared with other more economically advanced countries, characterized by a participant civic culture. Since the country was divided between a partisan minority that actively participated in political parties (and related organizations), and those who did not participate at all, the decentralized pluralistic democracy proposed by Tocqueville was still non-existing in Italy. In the last sixty years Italian society has undergone a process of modernization and mass scholarization that significantly changed the socio-political context: the levels of resources in society increased, an intense season of social mobilization led to an expansion and growth of civil society participation and to a gradual separation from subcultural belonging. According to the neo-Tocquevillian thesis of political socialization of associations, the slow, but persistent, upward movement of Italian social participation and civil associations should have then transformed Italian parochial citizens into participant citizens, with higher political efficacy and more likely to participate at higher rates in politics in less partisan ways. Yet, while political disaffection has stayed quite constant (and extremely high) through the years. Moreover, conventional political participation, relatively high in the 1960s compared to other countries, has undergone a slow but profound crisis since the 1980s while electoral participation, that had been surprisingly high since the end of the war (more than 90% turnout), and quite stable for many years, started to decrease. What appears from these macro level trends of the socio-political context is a paradox in light of social capital theories: in Italy the theory that sees the spread of social associations as producing participatory citizens has not worked, and at the macro level the three indicators of interest, social participation, political disaffection and political participation, seem to follow rather independent behavioural paths. We investigated why it is so and whether the same relation can be found at the micro level. Whereas this longitudinal study that investigates causality is very important for understanding the dynamics at work in Italy, it has much wider implications that go beyond the specificity of a single country. Since we find similar results at the macro and micro levels, the underlying mechanism hypothesized by social capital theories is empirically undermined, at least in its universalistic perspective. This volume consists in two main parts. The first part includes Chapter 1 to 3 and relates to a broad and extensive literature review on the world of political and social participation as well as of political disaffection, both in general terms and in more specific terms relating to the Italian case. The second part of the research includes Chapter 4 to 8 and relates to the empirical analyses of the Italian socio-political context. We first describe through secondary data analysis its evolution across time. We then construct a few hypotheses linking education and time in its time-period, political cohort and life-cycle aspects, in order to test with a multi-source pooled dataset whether the thesis of cognitive mobilization of Inglehart and Dalton has been at work in Italy for different types of associations after the post-war process of societal modernization. We finally move to a more analytical level constructing several hypotheses in order to study the existent causal relationship between social participation, political participation and political efficacy. Using a three-wave Italian national election panel (ITANES), through structural equation modelling (SEM) we test for several forms of association, whether at the micro level the theory of political socialization of associations holds. We also test alternative models, such as the theory of self-selection, or the theory of reverse causation. Finally, in order to give more insight to our findings we run a latent class analysis identifying different profiles of participation among the Italian population. Chapter 9 summarizes our findings, thinking upon the general interpretation of results and discussing the implications for future research. Analyses show firstly that the thesis of "cognitive mobilization" (which gives importance to changing levels of education in society, and to changing attitudes through a process of generational replacement) is only partially able to explain the evolutions of the macro trends of participation in Italy. Secondly, they show that it is not possible to claim which of the causal model tested worked better. Indeed, self-selection models worked only slightly better than political socialization models, but neither worked properly because participation in conventional politics and in civil society associations in Italy do not seem to be much connected to each other. We then conclude that, in a context like Italy, looking only at the demand side (individual characteristics or individual experiences within social groups) distorts the analysis because it is necessary to look also at the characteristics of the political offer and of the socio-political context in which citizens decide to participate, as well as at the structure of political parties. If these were found to be depending on the wider political context, the thesis of social capital might have to be rethought as being context-dependent. Since this research empirically studies only one country in a longitudinal way, however, studying the influence of the political offer is not possible if only in a speculative way. Non-empirically, the Italian "paradox" can indeed be solved in the following way. Italian political system has been modernized under fascism that, being a totalitarian regime, used to mobilize people to participate in a top-down way. This has strongly influenced the structure of the post-war Italian political system, since major parties (DC-Christian Democrats and PCI-Communist Party) were actually structured and functioned in the same way as Fascist party did, although with an extremely different ideological content. Relatively high levels of political participation in late 1950s were then not due to bottom-up participation in a pluralistic democracy, but they were rather a consequence of top-down mobilization of quite homogeneous sub-cultures (as states within the state, and against it). This situation slowly changed with increasing levels of economic and educational resources in society, and change in the international context of the Cold War, finally leading toward a crisis of political parties. When the political system collapsed in the 1990s due to bribery scandals, political parties changed their structure, relating much more on communication via mass media rather than on local branches of parties. The result was that people virtually stopped to participate in conventional politics also because they were no more mobilized from above to participate. Social participation increased across time on the one hand because number of social associations increased, because of higher levels of resources in society, while on the other hand, it can be argued that this increase is the consequence of a closed party system that is not able to incorporate citizens demands, and this is particularly true for the most politicized types of social associations, such as trade unions or social movements associations. Finally, political efficacy remains constant and low across time because of idealized views that citizens hold of political participation, along with perceptions of a closed party system that does not have transparent channels of recruitment and that does not treat citizens in equal ways. We conclude with a question to be investigated in future research: does this peculiar evolution of the socio-political context concerns only Italy, that has apparently not yet become a pluralistic Tocquevillian democracy, or is Italy only an extreme case of a more general European phenomenon, where countries have historically been politicized in a different way than the US (top-down vs. bottom-up, as Tocqueville and then Weber already reported long time ago)?

Nonostante le numerose battaglie affrontate nel corsi degli ultimi decenni per la salvaguardia dei diritti umani, la violenza di genere contro la donna e la violenza domestica è ancora un fenomeno drammaticamente diffuso globalmente, che, secondo i dati raccolti, colpisce una donna su tre almeno una volta nella vita. Una prima risposta concreta a favore delle vittime, che pone le basi per il raggiungimento del cosidetto "gold standard", emerge con due strumenti dell'organizzazione internazionale delle Nazioni Unite: la Convenzione sull'eliminazione di ogni forma di discriminazione della donna e più specificatamente la Dichiarazione sull'eliminazione della violenza contro le donne. Avvicinandoci sempre di più al nostro contesto italiano, è vitale menzionare la Convenzione promossa dal Consiglio d'Europa: la Convenzione del Consiglio d'Europa sulla prevenzione e la lotta alla violenza contro le donne e la violenza domestica. Uno dei paesi ratificanti della Convenzione di Istanbul è l'Italia, la quale si è posta come Paese promotore dei diritti delle donne e della protezione delle vittime, cercando di migliorare il proprio ordinamento, partendo dalla modifica o abrogazione di alcuni articoli del Codice Rocco, alla ratifica del recentissimo Codice Rosso. Nonostante l'impegno assunto dall'Italia, sono ancora numerose le lacune nel sistema di protezione delle vittime, evidenziato dall'emergere dell'emergenza sanitaria Covid-19.