Legal, Forensic and Criminological Psychology

ARIJE ANTINORI

The course aims to offer the specific theoretical knowledge and professional skills necessary to operate in the field of Criminology.
In particular, the models of Criminological Sciences and in particular of applicative Criminalistics will be examined.
The aim is to provide practical skills for the reading of criminal dynamics; we will focus on the perpetrator of crime, victimization dynamics, behavioral analysis and profiling and the most advanced methodologies and techniques of investigation at various levels: from investigation to the contribution of the Scientific Police. Particular attention will be given to crime inside and outside the INTERNET and to discrimination and hate crimes. During the course high level experts with testimonies and demonstrations will intervene to offer an advanced knowledge of Criminology in its practical applications.

Knowledge and understanding skills
At the end of the course the student will have to master the main theories and methods of Criminology in a critical way, setting this knowledge within the current scientific panorama. The student must have learned to make critical use of scientific articles and guidelines published at national and international level.


Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The student will be able to apply in a competent way the knowledge acquired, both theoretical and methodological, to identify possible solutions to complex application problems, which involve the use of intervention techniques consolidated in the scientific and practical panorama.

Autonomy of judgement
The student will be able to assume and interpret information useful to formulate scientific evaluations and hypotheses concerning the topics of the course in an autonomous way, also taking into account their social and ethical implications.

Communication skills
The student will be able to communicate the contents of the course, their critical elaborations, and the logical processes that have led to them, to expert and non-expert interlocutors.

Learning skills
The student will be able to apply with a high degree of autonomy the acquired skills to the thematic in-depth studies that will be the subject of subsequent studies.

By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the main theoretical frameworks of Criminology, and critically analyse criminal phenomena using appropriate conceptual and methodological tools. They will demonstrate the ability to differentiate among various types of crimes, offenders, and victims, taking into account the socio-cultural variables that influence deviant and/or criminal behavior. Students will explore the role of institutions in social control and crime prevention, and will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of current security policies and sanction systems. They will be proficient in using statistical and documentary sources to build evidence-based criminological analyses, showing an interdisciplinary understanding that integrates insights, especially from Psychology, Sociology, and Law. Furthermore, they will develop strong communication and argumentation skills suitable for presenting case studies and engaging in critical discussions on criminal issues. Students will also be prepared to collaborate in applied research initiatives and prevention projects, fostering a thoughtful and ethically grounded reflection on deviance, crime, marginalisation, and the criminal justice system.

There is no formal prerequisite.

Academic Year 2025–2026, the Exam textbooks are as follows:

- Antinori, A. (2015). Antinori, A. (2015). La 'mediamorfosi' del terrorismo jihadista tra iconoclastia e stato sociale. In Federalismi - Rivista di diritto pubblico italiano, comparato, europeo.
Download here:
https://www.federalismi.it/nv14/articolo-documento.cfm?Artid=30330&content=&content_author=

- Antinori, A. (2025). The Malicious use of Artificial Intelligence (MUAI): l’uso malevolo dell’Intelligenza Artificiale nell’ecosistema cyber-sociale. In Sicurezza e scienze sociali n.2/2025
https://siss.terni.unipg.it/ojs/index.php/siss

- Giannini A.M., Rizzi V. (Eds.). (2023). Investigare 5.0. Criminologia e criminalistica. Viaggio nel mondo delle indagini. Piccin Nuova Libraria.
Please note that only the following sections will be included in the exam:
1.1 La criminologia
1.2 La criminalistica
1.3 Euristica
1.4 La detenzione
1.5 L’evoluzione
1.6 La scienza e il processo penale
1.7 La vittima
1.8 Senso di insicurezza e cultura vittimologica
6.1 La criminalità organizzata: cosa nostra, ‘ndrangheta, camorra, mafie pugliesi
6.5 Terrorismo e antiterrorismo: la prospettiva italiana
6.6 Gli anni di piombo in Italia
6.7 I movimenti di estrema destra ed il suprematismo negli Stati Uniti d’America
6.9 La polizia postale e delle comunicazioni e il ruolo del law enforcement nell’architettura nazionale di sicurezza cibernetica
6.10 Gli attacchi informatici
6.12 L’odio e i suoi crimini
6.13 L’odio e i suoi delitti
6.14 La violenza di genere: reati spia e femminicidio, strumenti integrati per la prevenzione e il contrasto check list – protocolli operativi
6.16 Il narcotraffico
6.17 Traffico di droga e organizzazioni criminali
7.1 La criminalità organizzata transnazionale
7.2 L'importanza dello scambio informativo e della cooperazione internazionale di polizia
7.3 Le principali piattaforme e gli strumenti per la cooperazione internazionale
8.1 Premessa
8.2 Intelligence ed Analisi: il ciclo delle informazioni
8.3 Analisi: classificazione
8.4 Tecniche di analisi criminale
8.5 Raccolta informativa: alcune best practice riferite all'attività delle Forze di Polizia
9.2 Violenza Collettiva e Tutela della sicurezza sociale

Attendance is recommended but not mandatory.

The exam will be in oral form.
An intermediate exam will take place during the course, followed by a final exam.