79550 - Sociology of Migration, Regulation and Criminalization Processes

Learning outcomes

The module aims to define the migratory phenomenon from the perspective of the main contributions of the sociology of migrations. Particular attention will be devoted to studying the relationship between normative regulatory devices and strategies of access and settlement. The characteristics of the residential and occupational placement of migrants and minority groups will be analyzed in their formal and informal dimensions. The analysis of feasible opportunities in the formal, informal, and illegal economic sectors will also be developed, referring to the relationship between immigration and crime as a social construct. Reflecting from the perspective of processes of criminalization, the identification of causal links that seem to distinguish it and the discursive frameworks that define it will be explored.

Course contents

At the end of the course, students will be able to utilize the fundamental theoretical frameworks of the sociology of migration, with particular reference to the processes of criminalization. Specifically, they will have developed the ability to analyze the dynamics of social integration of migrants in the labor markets of immigration countries, with reference to legal, informal, and illegal economies.

The course reviews the main sociological and criminological theories useful for critically analyzing the connections between immigration and crime, from the Chicago School to the most recent theories of border criminology. These theories will be useful in explaining the overrepresentation of foreign individuals in crime and incarceration statistics.

Subsequently, the course will delve into specific focus areas:

• The role of migration policies in defining the legal statuses of migrants as "legal" or "illegal" and the impacts of these policies on involvement in illegal economies and criminalization processes, on the one hand, and labor exploitation, on the other.

• The control of documents by police within cities and the discretionary use of immigration law as a means of territorial control.

• The numbers, dynamics, and functions of administrative detention for the purpose of deporting migrants in the Repatriation Detention Centers in Italy (CPR).

Readings/Bibliography

The program for attending students includes the study of lecture notes and three chapters from the following text:

• Alvise Sbraccia (2021), “Pericolosi e funzionali, gli stranieri nel pensiero socio-criminologico” in Curi et al. (eds.), I migranti sui sentieri del diritto. Profili socio-criminologici, giuslavoristici, penali e processualpenalistici, pp. 3-52.

The program for non-attending students includes the study of lecture notes and the following chapters from the following texts:

• Alvise Sbraccia (2021), “Pericolosi e funzionali, gli stranieri nel pensiero socio-criminologico” in Curi et al. (eds.), I migranti sui sentieri del diritto. Profili socio-criminologici, giuslavoristici, penali e processualpenalistici, pp. 3-52.
• Giulia Fabini (2022), “Il controllo invisibile ai confini interni” in Fabini, Giulia, Polizia e migranti in città. Negoziare il confine nei contesti locali, pp. 105-138.
• Giulia Fabini (2022), “Il confinamento della mobilità. Innovazioni e continuità nella storia della detenzione amministrativa in Italia” in Francesca Esposito, Emilio Caja, and Giacomo Mattiello (eds.), Covid-19 e detenzione amministrativa in Europa, SEB27, Torino, pp. 41-73.

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminar-style classes

Assessment methods

Oral exam

Teaching tools

Online teaching materials

Documentaries

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Fabini