Social Work

Educational goals 2.1 General goals The course will comprise three modules. It intends to present basic topics and constructs on the various theories in social psychology, promoting a critical comparison among them. The student will examine such comparisons through a presentation in the classroom of a specific topic chosen among those in the text of Palmonari, Cavazza, and Rubini (2012). The course will put first the more recent international literature, focusing both on the mainstream tradition and the critical tradition. So it will illustrate, on the one hand, concepts discussed by the so-called "American school" (such as social cognition), on the other, concepts privileged by the "European school" (such as social representations). There will then be a section in the course dedicated to the history of the Italian social psychology capable of highlighting its cultural roots in comparison with the national and international historical context. In the third module, students will undergo experiential activities at a social farm that provides social service assistance, including job-training, social reintegration, prevention of scholastic, family and social issues, and assisted activities outdoor with animals (horses) for disabled people. In the social farm, students will directly observe how interventions are carried out in outdoor activities, for prevention of social unrest, and will take part to the equipe discussion about real or simulated cases through role-playing. 2.2 Specific goals 2.2.1 Knowledge and understanding Students will be able to master contents of the different research points of view and traditions operating in the social psychology area. The part dedicated to the history of social psychology will be based on texts of the late 1800's/early 1900's, read and commented in the classroom Every student will write a diary on the competences acquired during experiential training course at the social farm, with the aim to reason on how to transform that abstract knowledge into operative skills. 2.2.2 Applying knowledge and understanding Students will be able to read and interpret the results of empirical researches connecting them to the pertaining theoretical, disciplinary, and practical fields. They will also acquire specific skills about the presentation methods of an oral and written report, related to a part of the chapters of the text of Palmonari, Cavazza, and Rubini (2012). In the third module, students will acquire competences on the ability to understand others through role-playing activities performed in groups. Such activities will rely on observation of - more than on competition with - other groups. Such observations will be then discussed in a plenary debate, and a guided de-briefing will take place to reason on the deep meaning of the experiences. 2.2.3 Making judgements Students will use the material presented during the lectures and in the presentation of their colleagues to autonomously discuss important social topics. 2.2.4 Communication skills Presenting the summary of a topic inside the text of Palmonari, Cavazza, and Rubini (2012), students may familiarise with ways to transmit knowledge, also through in-depth analysis of a scientific article focused on the chosen subject. Observing social communication in animals (i.e., horses) will allow student to realize how it is always functional and never dysfunctional, thus promoting self-reflective abilities on human communication. 2.2.5 Learning skills When a student presents the summary of a specific topic, analysing it by personally reading other pertaining materials, he/she will acquire skills for an autonomous study. Furthermore, students will interview each other on the abilities and competences developed through the experiential activities at the social farm.