DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Master's Degree in The planning and management of policies and social services
Academic Year 2016/2017 - 1° Year

INDIVIDUO E SISTEMA SOCIALE

Teaching Staff

Learning Objectives

• INDIVIDUAL ACTION AND SOCIAL SYSTEM
  
  knowledge about recent sociological theories, based on the individualistic approach and about the processes through which social action affects the institutional efficiency.
• SOCIAL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATION
  
  Skills and knowledge concerning the evaluation of effectiveness and efficiency about different organizational models. Students will study old and new theoretical approach and they will identify concrete developments. A focus is referred to recent studies about the neo-institutionalism and about weak organization ties.
• SOCIAL CONTEST AND NETWORK ANALYSIS
  
  Acquisition of tools to plan social actions and to analyze social phenomena about welfare, organizational dynamics and social policies. The students will also acquire specific methodological skills for social surveys.

Detailed Course Content

• INDIVIDUAL ACTION AND SOCIAL SYSTEM
  

  The first part is about sociological perspectives related to the paradigm of social action. The focus is on the analysis of circularity as it relates to social mechanisms involving “micro” and “macro” dynamics, aiming at the co-determination of social phenomenon.

• SOCIAL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATION
  

  The second module is about theories and research related to organizational contexts, analyzing strategies to control intra and inter-organizational actions and the relational processes, both formal and informal.

• SOCIAL CONTEST AND NETWORK ANALYSIS
  

  The third part of the course provides theoretical knowledge on issues related to social work and the learning of methodological skills for secondary data analysis and relational dynamics, introducing theoretical and methodological information about the network analysis’ tools and showing how these can be used, specifically, for the social work and, particularly, looking at social needs and relational problems / dynamics.