Adriano Zamperini

La violenza collettiva e il g8 di Genova. trauma psicopolitico e terapia sociale della testimonianza

Generalmente la violenza di Stato e associata a sistemi totalitari e a dittature che violano i diritti umani. Carente e invece la letteratura scientifica in merito alla violenza di Stato esercitata in societa democratiche. Il presente articolo cerca di colmare questa lacuna, analizzando gli eventi del G8 di Genova del 20-22 luglio 2001, durante i quali, secondo osservatori internazionali, si e verificata la piu grave sospensione dei diritti umani in un Paese occidentale dopo la seconda guerra mondiale. Criticando la diagnosi di disturbo post-traumatico da stress (PTSD), e articolando i concetti di delegittimazione sociale, trauma psicopolitico e terapia della testimonianza, viene proposta un’analisi contestuale del trauma subito dalle vittime durante le violenze del G8 di Genova.

Giving Voice to Silence: A Study of State Violence in Bolzaneto Prison during the Genoa G8 Summit

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the legal narratives produced during hearings at the trial for violence that took place inside the Bolzaneto prison at the Genoa Group of Eight Summit (G8) of 2001. First we summarize the events of the G8, during which, according to international observers, there occurred the most serious violation of human rights in a Western country since the Second World War. Then comes the empirical research conducted on Bolzaneto prison during the trial, adopting three perspectives of analysis: courtroom narrative, social delegitimization, and therapeutic jurisprudence. The research on courtroom narrative analyzes the relationship between social structure and power on the one hand and linguistic patterning and use on the other. On the basis of the qualitative analysis of the storytelling, we elaborate our conception of delegitimization, distinguished into definitional, behavioral, and environmental. Finally, we outline the role of the law as a therapeutic agent in reducing the negative consequence of delegitimization, which in the case of Bolzaneto prison turns out to be a practice of state violence as exercised within a sociopolitical context.

Pet Loss and Representations of Death, Attachment, Depression, and Euthanasia

ABSTRACT Studies that have examined pet loss hypothesize that attachment, representations of death, and the belief in an afterlife for animals may influence owners’ bereavement and depressive outcomes. The following instruments were administered to 159 Italian participants recruited through snowball sampling: the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS), the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire (PBQ), the Testoni Death Representation Scale (TDRS), and Beck’s Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). Questions concerning pet euthanasia-related issues and the relationship between owners and veterinarians were also submitted to the participants. A path model was conducted, showing that the representation of death and the attachment to a pet had a direct effect on pet grief, which in turn had a direct effect on depression. The results show a positive correlation between the LAPS and PBQ factors, particularly with the PBQ factor Grief. The LAPS factors positively correlated with the TDRS representation of Death as a Passage and negatively correlated with the TDRS representation of Death as Annihilation. The LAPS People Substituting factor positively correlated with the total score and the Cognitive-Affective factor of the BDI-II. The PBQ factors positively correlated with the BDI-II, whereas only the TDRS Death as Annihilation factor positively correlated with the BDI-II. Belief in a transcendent dimension was associated with higher scores on the PBQ Guilt factor and the TDRS factors of Death as a Passage and Death as Change, whereas these beliefs were associated with lower scores on the TDRS factor Death as Annihilation. The results indicated that the sensitivity of the veterinarian and a veterinarian who helps owners make conscious and informed decisions for their pet and choose the right time to perform euthanasia are important variables in the management of pet loss. However, these factors are not sufficient and psychological support should be improved to help owners better cope with grief.

Literary plastination: From body's objectification to the ontological representation of death, differences between sick-literature and tales by amateur writers

This article presents a qualitative analysis of published and unpublished texts, aimed to understand a new narrative phenomenon named “sick-lit.” This is a genre of stories, written by professional novelists, rooted in disease, self-harm, suicide, sufferance from violence, death, and dying. In the Internet it has been considered as a trivialization of serious issues and even potentially encouraging readers to harm themselves. Our hypothesis is that this negative judgment is based on the ontological representation of death and the objectification of the body depicted in these stories. In order to inquire into this possibility and to compare this anomalous form of story-telling with another kind of narration reflecting the wider common sensibility, a qualitative analysis was realized on six sick-lit novels (SLNs) and 21 unpublished tales written by amateur writers (AWTs). The results confirm the hypothesis: the SLNs represent death also as an absolute annihilation and the body is always reified through medical language, while the AWTs represent death only as a passage or reincarnation and the description of the deteriorated body is minimal.

Representations of Death Among Italian Vegetarians: An Ethnographic Research on Environment, Disgust and Transcendence

This paper focuses on the motives for vegetarian choices in contemporary Italian food culture, with specific reference to the role of the representations of death. The study adopts a qualitative research design aimed at an in-depth exploration of the reasons for avoiding meat, following an ethnographic method. Twenty-two participants (55% women, 45% men) aged 19-74, all vegetarians or vegans, mainly from Northern and Central Italy, were involved. Data from the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis were examined according to the qualitative thematic analysis: the results show the role of death in the construction of disgust towards meat, running parallel with an emphasis on spirituality, ethical treatment of animals and the environment as reasons for avoiding meat, in particular, the concern-generating disgust and its relationship with the representation of death as a contaminating essence. The basis of disgust lies in this connection, from which the idea that oral consumption of contaminants characterized by corruptive properties, passing through the flesh of dead animals to humans, derives. The role of anti-speciesism is considered as a latent perspective, which may influence the vegetarian and vegan choices.

Maschilità: identificazioni, ruoli e soggetti

Nelle ultime decadi, lo studio del maschile e entrato a far parte delle scienze sociali come un tema di ricerca centrale. In particolare, i Critical Studies on Men & Masculinities (CSMM) offrono una proficua direzione per studiare sia il ruolo della maschilita nel sostenere le asimmetrie di potere nelle relazioni di genere, sia l’eterogeneita dei modi in cui i soggetti arrivano a definirsi come uomini. Ciononostante, restano delle rilevanti aporie teoriche aperte al dibattito. Questo articolo perseguira due scopi: tracciare gli snodi centrali dei dibattiti sulle maschilita e valutare il contributo che un dialogo tra i CSMM e il linguaggio psicoanalitico puo portare allo studio delle soggettivita maschili. Verra avanzata l’ipotesi che un punto di contatto promettente per questo dialogo puo essere ritrovato nella riformulazione post-strutturalista che Judith Butler ha proposto delle opere di Freud e Lacan sullo sviluppo dell’identita di genere.

Addiction and religiosity in facing suicide: A qualitative study on meaning of life and death among homeless people

This qualitative research explores the relationship between religiosity, suicide thoughts and drug abuse among 55 homeless people, interviewed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analyzing the thematic structure of the participants’ narrations, important main themes appeared in order to avoid suicide, among which family, the certainty of finding a solution and the will to live. However, the suicide ideation inheres in about 30% of participants, almost all believers, addicted and/or alcoholics. Results suggest that religiosity and meaning of death neither prevent from substances abuse and alcoholism, nor is a protective factor against suicide ideation. Meanings of life are the most important reasons for living, and when they are definitively considered unworkable, alcohol and drug help to endure life in the street. A specific model is discussed.

Forgiveness and Blame Among Suicide Survivors: A Qualitative Analysis on Reports of 4-Year Self-Help-Group Meetings

This article presents the qualitative analysis of reports obtained through participant observations collected over a 4-year period in a series of suicide survivor self-help group meetings. It analysed how grievers’ healing was managed by their own support. The longitudinal study was focused on self/other blame and forgiveness. Results show how self-blame was continuously present along all the period and how it increased when new participants entered the group. This finding indicates that self-blame characterizes especially the beginning of the participation, and that any new entrance rekindles the problem. However, no participant had ever definitively demonstrated self-forgiveness, while a general forgiveness appeared when self-blame stopped. It is also suggested how to facilitate the elaboration of self-blame and forgiveness.

‘Study like Italians do’ as a migration project: field research in Togo

ABSTRACT In this article we present ethnographic research conducted on students taking an Italian language and culture course in Lomé, the capital of Togo. We interacted with the students and participated in their school days. In addition to the interviews, we turned to Focus Groups in order to investigate certain crucial issues. Our research reinforces the idea that migration is a strategy of living, even before surviving, thanks to which many students from West Africa can achieve their desire to learn and explore the world and gain access to higher quality education. We noted the importance of the preparatory phase, the process by which students acquire different skills needed to deal with the migration experience. ‘Study like Italians do’ also anticipates the scenario of the migration in the host country, which influences the expectations and behaviour that students will implement once they arrive in Italy.

Courage and representations of death in patients who are waiting for a liver transplantation

Abstract Context: In the last decade, a wide literature has highlighted the importance of religiosity as support of severe illnesses, especially the oncological ones, and in the end of life. In the field of the liver transplant, there is a lack of similar research. This article aims to bridge this gap and presents an exploratory study on the relationships between fear of death, courage and religiosity among patients who wait for liver transplant. Method: Sixty-two participants awaiting a liver transplant were interviewed with regard to their quality of life, religiosity, ontological representations and fear of death, courage and fear of intervention and donor-related thoughts. The following instruments were utilized: a specific interview; the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36); the Testoni Death Representation Scale (TDRS); and the Courage Measure. Results: Patients reporting higher levels of fear for intervention showed less courage and were more likely to avoid the surgery. They also tended to be non-believers, to have a lower quality of life and to represent death as an absolute annihilation. Conclusions: Less death was represented as a passage, the stronger the avoidance behaviour and the fear of transplant were. Since it is possible to develop a positive thought about death, the study underlined how spiritual support could be useful to manage fear of transplantation.