Victimology, Forensic Sciences and Investigation Techniques
PROF. ANNA COSTANZA BALDRY; PROF. GIOVANNA LAURA DE FAZIO; PROF. GIULIANO
TURONE
MODULE I: Victimology (Prof. Anna Costanza Baldry)
COURSE AIMS
The course will allow students to:
– understand victimology from a theoretical point of view;
– know the social policies in favor of the victims, national and international laws
to protect victims;
– understand how alternative systems to conventional justice and restorative
justice meet the needs of victims while respecting the rights of the person who
committed the crime;
– understand the characteristics of certain types of victims which are of particular
concern at both public and private level;
– understand what is a service, a centre for the protection of victims and how it
works.
COURSE CONTENT
GENERAL SECTION
History of victimology
Evolution of the role of victim in the penal system.
United Nations and European Union provisions for providing victims of crime and
abuse of power with help and protection.
National and international legislation on the role of the victim in the penal and
criminal procedure system
Who the victims are. Main typologies of crime victim
Trauma and the impact of victimisation and how they are managed.
Secondary victimisation.
Restorative justice. Victim-offender mediation, Family Group Conferences.
SPECIAL TOPICS
Special types of victim.
Victims of terrorism and victims in the line of duty
Victims of sexual violence, abuse and stalking.
Child sexual abuse.
Bullying and cyber-bullying.
Anti-violence centres. The work of institutions and new laws to protect women
victims of crime.
READING LIST
L. DAIGLE, E Victimology: A Text/Reader, Sage, London, 2011.
Lecture notes and articles available on Blackboard.
Students not attending the course will also read the chapter entitled “Victims” in
M. MAGUIRE-R. MORGAN- R. REINER (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford University
Press, March 2007, Fourth edition.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures, presentation and discussion of case studies, film clips, group work, case work,
expert speakers.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Written examination with yes-no and open-ended questions.
Tests throughout the course to assess students’ level of learning.
Students attending lectures will have the option of carrying out a project involving data
gathering and a short essay that will be part of the exam.
NOTES
The entire course and the exam will be held in English.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG, or on the Faculty notice
board.
MODULE II: Forensic Sciences (Prof. Giovanna Laura De Fazio)
COURSE AIMS
The aim of the course is to give students a specific preparation in the multiple
disciplines relating to Forensic Sciences, whose applications in the legal field are
targeted at research into the factors of proof useful for the evaluation and
interpretation of a crime, as well as for the identification of the perpetrator also as
an outcome of criminogenic and criminodynamic assessment correlated to the legal
factors emerging from the laboratory enquiries.
The course, typified by a multi-disciplinary approach, will consider the most recent
developments in scientific research in a national and international ambit.
COURSE CONTENT
– Definition and applicative area of Forensic Sciences.
– The legal examination (freezing a crime scene; surveys and evidence).
– Dactyloscopy (principles; survey methods and analysis of latent fingerprints;
datyloscopic identification; biometric information structures and fingerprints).
– Analysis of biological traces and Blood Pattern Analysis.
– Plastic prints (shoe prints, tools from break-ins and cuts, analysis of plastic
envelopes).
– Residues from shooting (methods of recovery and analysis).
– Forensic anthropology and the exhumation of skeletal remains.
– An outline on Forensic Entomology.
– Forensic Psychiatry (elements of psychiatric nosology and analysis of problem
areas connected to liability).
– Elements of Forensic Toxicology (monographs on the principal abuse
substances; research into abuse substances in living biological material;
chemical-toxicological analysis in non-biological samples).
– Analysis of DNA (the genetic fingerprint; mitochondrial DNA and nuclear
DNA; analysis methods; analysis of biological findings).
– Criminal profiling and the serial killer.
READING LIST
The reading list will be communicated during the course.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures in the lecture room.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral exams.
NOTES
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
MODULE III: Investigation Techniques (Prof. Giuliano Turone)
COURSE AIMS
The course will provide students with the basics on techniques and strategies of
criminal investigation, aimed at investigating crimes and identifying their
perpetrators, as well as seeking and gathering evidence, according to criteria of
rationality and while respecting the rules of fair trial.
COURSE CONTENT
The course consists of two parallel strands.
The first strand concerns the legal regulations (A) that must be observed in the
course of an investigation, in order to ensure that its results are obtained in
compliance with the principles of a constitutional state and are therefore fully
exploitable for the purposes of a criminal trial.
The second strand concerns the techniques and strategies (B) of a correct, effective
criminal investigation. In this part, lectures will be supplemented with the
discussion and analysis of various real case histories of varying nature and
complexity. These will also be followed through their investigative developments
through simulations and practical exercises, done both individually and in groups.
The course therefore aims at forming interdisciplinary skills, both theoretical and
practical. It is structured into several models and will also take into account areas
of interest in the various forms of crime.
Strand A – Introduction to the criminal justice system. The different criminal
justice systems. The constitutional state and the principle of fair trial. The current
Italian system and that which was in place until 1988. The bodies of criminal
investigation: investigating magistrates and investigative police officials. The laws
regulating criminal investigation: a) the principles set by the Italian constitution
and by international conventions ratified by Italy; b) regulations contained within
the code of criminal procedure. The individual acts of investigation classified by
the code of criminal procedure. Precautionary measures.
Strand B – Information about a crime. Known suspects and unknown suspects.
Perfecting an investigative strategy. The purpose of the criminal investigation:
identifying subjects who are really responsible for crimes and making valid pieces
of evidence available for the criminal trial. The dangers and traps that the
investigators can run into and tactics for reducing the risk of judicial errors to a
minimum. How to conduct individual acts of inquiry (interrogation of suspects,
interviews with individuals acquainted with the facts, searches, seizures, identity
parades, etc.). Continuous evaluation of the individual acts of inquiry and decisions
about the next steps to take. The traps of false syllogisms and corrupt reasoning.
Violent crimes, the scene of the crime and the examination of it, the science of
traces. Serial crimes and their analysis. Remarks on criminal analysis following the
Anglo-Saxon model. Investigations into organised crime. Mafia organised crime.
Historical and criminological notions on the classic mafias. Article 416-bis of the
Criminal Code. Participation and external aiding and abetting of the associative
crime. The investigation into the position of the associated individual.
Interrogating criminals turned state’s evidence (so-called “pentiti”) and evaluating
their statements. The so-called “external corroboration”: valid and invalid
corroboration of evidence, identifying and non-identifying corroboration. The
entrepreneurial dimension of organised crime and the resulting criminal economy.
The investigation of assets aimed at identifying the criminal economy. Laundering
of unlawful earnings and investigation of same. Seizure and confiscation of
unlawful earnings. So-called “white collar” crimes and investigation of them.
Trans-national organised crime and trans-national investigation.
READING LIST
The reading list will be announced during the course.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral exam.
NOTES
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.