The s.c. «third dimension» is one of the first definitions given in the sociological arena to
define the development of a ate element that was not identifiable with generalist instances of the
state or with those particularistic of the market.
Deriving its conceptualization from the Husserlian theory, Ardigò through the use this approach
emphasizing the need to reconstruct the crisis through new forms of transaction between
the social system and life-worlds.
The use of this conceptualization led to the identification of these intermediary organizations
between different systems.
The text takes a brief overview of the third dimension organizations and the way how they
operate the reconciliation between inter-subjectivity and super-ordination present in the systemic
sense. It is proposed a scheme of interpretation, drawn from the author in question, through
which classifying not merely the organization but the possible interconnections between micro
and macro and their consequences. It is concluded that the abandon of the analytical perspective
proposed by Ardigò, primarily for the affirmation of a vision of an economic nature, was
determined both by the theoretical vulgate established around of the 90, and the difficulty in
operationalizing a definition that owed much to the knowledge from the phenomenology of the
Bolognese scientist.
Moral hazard is the assumption of an extremely high risk of which positive consequences can
bring an advantage to who has taken the risk, while the eventual costs are borne by someone else.
Therefore, the assumption of risk, in this situation, can be incentivized by the possibility for one
party to put its interest first with no eventual costs. The present article extends the economical
notion of moral hazard to social sciences. More than an important object for sociology – via its
link to the notion of social responsibility –, moral hazard has been the base of social criticism
after the crisis. After introducing a brief history of the notion, relevant particularly in risk sociology,
I’ll present the results of the analysis concerning the critics of moral hazard – appeared on «Financial Times», «Wall Street Journal», «Il Sole 24 Ore», «Les Echos» – during the three
years after Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Moral hazard stands here as the root of the opposition
– between political and financial élites, on one side, and taxpayer or common citizens, on the
other – fostered later on by not-specialized press and protest movements like M-15 and Occupy
Wall Street. In this perspective, the notion of moral hazard brings a new light to the link between
power, responsibility, inequality and risk in contemporary society.
The paper is aimed to tackle the topic of evidence-based policies’ evaluation for vulnerable
children and families. Specifically, the article reviews innovative programs helping children
and families and analyzes distinctive features of outcome evaluation of interventions and services
designed for family and age of development, highlighting opportunities and obstacles.
Moreover, the authors suggest some evaluation strategies available in this area of research and
propose some foundations (guiding principle) for directing planning of evaluation studies in
family welfare area.
This two-year study is currently being undertaken in Barbagia. Through local mediators, we
have found groups of people in every community who have agreed to be interviewed about their
own weddings. For every community or village, an average of six accounts have been recorded.
The mediators were asked to find people of varying ages, without specifying gender. The interviews
have been carried out by partially structured interviews and recorded digitally.
From the start, it has been clear that marriage is strongly understood to be the business of the
female side of society: for all, marriage is «a woman’s affair». From the initial examination of the
material, three elements appear fundamental for the analysis of the rite of marriage: the role of
the woman in the relationship between families and the relationships within their own family, the
role of gifts and the presence of ritual foods.
The research activities in the area of social work are situated in the theoretical and empirical
sociological tradition. From the latter is derives tools and attitudes needed to build up its own
peculiar culture and to develop a sort of sociological imagination. The research in the field of
social work draws from the sociological tradition, both tools and methodological attitude, always
consistent with the object under consideration and the aims of the research itself. The evolution
of the social work as subject matter and field of study has been framed within the debate among
social sciences and in a tight relationship with them. However, the research side cannot be kept separated from the operational side of the social worker’s professional activities: both for historical
reasons, but also because of the operative nature of the knowledge at stake.
The paper presents a brief investigation into the meanings of the research activity in the current
experience of the social work.