Teaching code

4S007384

Teacher

Daniela Raccanello

Coordinator

Daniela Raccanello

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-PSI/04 - DEVELOPMENTAL AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Period

Sem. 1A, Sem. 1B

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding - Knowledge and understanding of the determinants of bio-psycho-social wellbeing (with particular attention to the main social problems often faced by social workers) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding - Ability to recognize the main causes of people’s needs and to distinguish among their social, family, and personal roots, focusing on their reciprocal relations SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The course aims at offering some conceptual and methodological instruments necessary to know and understand the psychological processes characterizing psychosocial risk and resources during development, according to the perspective of developmental psychology. By the end of the course, the students will have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the determinants of bio-psycho-social wellbeing; ability to recognize the main causes of risk and to distinguish among their social, familial and personal roots, underlying the corresponding resources; autonomous assessment of the methodologies concerning the intervention on the psychosocial risk; communication skills regarding the scientific language of psychology; ability to integrate into working teams.

Program

The syllabus is divided into three parts: (A) Psychosocial risk and resources during development. • Basic constructs: adjustment, risk and protection factors; stress and traumatic events; psychological vulnerability and resilience. • Definitions, theoretical models, role of individual and contextual factors, evaluation instruments. (B) Psychosocial risk and resources during childhood. • Psychological processes during childhood: development in the cognitive, social, and emotional domain. • Situations of psychosocial risk during childhood: children with parents affected by psychopathology, maltreated and abused, belonging to minorities, with separated or divorced parents, adopted, etc. • Maltreated and abused children: definition and characteristics of violence towards children; traumatic consequences of violence both at short and long term concerning psychological development. • Adopted children: definition and characteristics of the adoptive bond; consequences in terms of psychological development. (C) Psychosocial risk and resources during adolescence. • Psychological processes during adolescence: development in the cognitive, social, and emotional domain. • Situations of psychosocial risk during adolescence: adolescents belonging to minorities, with anti-social and deviant behaviours, using substances, in front of a complex society, etc. • Adolescents belonging to minorities: non accompanied foreign minors, the emigration process, intergenerational conflicts, school as an integration agency. • Adolescents with antisocial and deviant behaviours: definition of antisociality and deviance, explanations, interventions. • Adolescents using substances: definition of dependence, risk and protection factors, prevention and treatment, new dependences. • Adolescents in front of a complex society: school and job paths as risk and protection factors. Teaching activities The course will include frontal lessons, aiming at transmitting basic notions, integrated by cooperative learning, aiming at deepening the knowledge of specific aspects of the syllabus, in particular through the study of research papers. The content of the texts and the lessons is coherent with the syllabus. Further didactic materials are available from the teacher. During the whole academic year, in addition, the teacher will receive the students individually, at the times indicates in the website (it is not necessary to arrange specific appointments) which are constantly updated. During the first lesson, the teacher will present the whole calendar of the didactic activities with dates and topics of the lessons, specifying the time and the rooms. Texts for the exam: Bombi, A. S., & Cannoni, E. (2014). Bambini e salute. Psicologia dello sviluppo per le professioni sanitarie. Bologna: Il Mulino. Inguglia, C., & Lo Coco, A. (2013). Resilienza e vulnerabilità psicologica nel corso dello sviluppo. Bologna: Il Mulino. Speltini, G. (2016). L’età giovanile. Disagio e risorse psicosociali. Bologna: Il Mulino. Chapters: Introduction, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Examination Methods

The aim of the exam is to verify the extent to which the expected learning results are achieved, in terms of knowledge and understanding abilities, both theoretical and applied.
The exam is formed by a written part and an optional oral part. Both of them cover the whole syllabus. For the written part, there are ten definitions and four open-ended questions. The duration of the written part is one hour. The oral part is optional, and it consists of an integrative interview requested by the student, after passing the written part.
In particular:
• Knowledge and ability of understanding factors associated with bio-psycho-social wellbeing, applied knowledge and ability of understanding focused on the factors underlying risks, and autonomy of judgment, in terms of critical evaluation of methodologies and interventions concerning psychosocial risk during childhood and during adolescence, will be evaluated examining the responses to the open-ended questions, assessing: (a) the possession of the required knowledge, (b) the argumentative abilities, (c) the critical ability to identify strength and weakness of contents.
• Communicative abilities in terms of competences and instruments to communicate and manage information will be assessed mainly examining definitions in the written part, in which it is requested to use the appropriate lexicon typical of the scientific language of psychology.
• Capacity of learning in terms of abilities to work in groups will be evaluated in itinere, assessing how the cooperative learning activities are conducted.
The evaluation of the exam is expressed in thirties. For the written part, there will be maximum one point for each definition and maximum five points for each answer to open-ended questions. For the oral part, there will be maximum three points.
The exam will be equal for those students who attend and those who do not attend the lessons.

Due to the current Coronavirus-related emergency, the above-mentioned description of the exam is modified as follows for summer 2020, according to the indications from the University of Verona: the exam is formed by an oral interview requesting definitions of constructs referred to the whole syllabus.