Research
Observatory on criminal and security legislation
The Observatory is developing a continuously updated database to track the numbers, types, content, and overall scope of punitive legislative acts passed by the Italian legislature. Additionally, it aims to publish an annual report on the evolution of criminal and security legislation in Italy.
DETAIL
The Use of Force and Its Limits in the Penitentiary Context
The research, funded through PSR grants by the University of Milan, aims to explore the challenges surrounding the use of force in the prison system by gathering the experiences and perspectives of prison staff.
DETAIL
The Determinants of Urban Security Policies
The project aims to identify the reasons behind the rise of increasingly punitive security policies over the past thirty years. Specifically, it empirically examines bottom-up models (policies as a response to citizen demands) and top-down models (policies as a tool used by elites to shape public opinion) to determine which is more explanatory of the Italian context.
DETAIL
Police and Youth with Migrant Backgrounds in the San Siro District of Milan
The study investigates the relationship between young people with a migrant background and the police through a mixed-method research approach in the San Siro district of Milan.
DETAILLatest news
Authoritarianisms in Democracy
Casa della Cultura – Via Borgogna 3, Milan
From Crisis to Resilience: Understanding Youth Violence in the Post-Pandemic Era
Main hall – Regione Emilia-Romagna, Viale Aldo Moro 30, BolognaIndividual and contextual factors leading to engagement with paramilitary republican groups
The article examines, through 53 interviews, the social and personal factors that motivate some individuals in Northern Ireland to join republican paramilitary groups. By integrating different criminological theories, the author shows how historical injustices, economic marginalization and individual vulnerabilities intersect to facilitate recruitment.
Prisons. Antigone: “2025 Leaves Us with Increasingly Dilapidated, Overcrowded and Inhumane Facilities”
Prison overcrowding continues to represent one of the most serious critical issues within the Italian penitentiary system; it is precisely within this context that the report by Professor Della Bella, presented at the Conference “Prison Overcrowding and Dignity”, held in Milan on 15 October 2025, is situated. The contribution offers an in-depth and systematic reflection on prison emergencies over the past fifteen years and on the possible tools for addressing the current phase of crisis.
When women talk: Exploring the voices of women in prison through an arts-based radio project
Based on interviews with incarcerated women, the study explores how radio production can enable participation in expressive, cultural, and decision-making processes within an institution shaped by pronounced power asymmetries
Restorative Justice Approaches for Environmental Harm: A Practice Guide
The guide—developed with contributions from practitioners, scholars, organizations, and communities—brings together principles, working tools, and practical advice to support the implementation of responses grounded in the principles of restorative justice in cases of environmental harm.
Comments&Opinions
The case of the ‘Weekend Snipers’ in Sarajevo and violence as a consumable practice
Reflecting on the Commodification of Violence: The Case of the ‘Weekend Snipers’.
Violence and security in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro: between failed policies and “bare life”
In Rio de Janeiro, a comprehensive reform of public security and law enforcement is urgently required, one that enables authorities to operate without resorting to militarized strategies, which, as demonstrated over the years, have consistently proven ineffective for both the safety of police officers and the civilian population of the favelas. Drawing on an analysis of the large-scale police operation carried out on October 28, 2025, in the Latin American metropolis, this article aims to offer a critical reflection on intervention strategies in areas controlled by armed groups, highlighting their limitations, social impacts, and the need for structural reform.
Twenty-Five Years On: The European Society of Criminology at a Crossroads Between Past and Future
From 3 to 6 September 2023, the 25th Conference of the European Society of Criminology took place in Athens, bringing together over 2,300 participants. While it was expected to be a celebration of the Society’s twenty-fifth anniversary, it was instead marked by dissatisfaction and tension, prompting deeper questions about the association’s representativeness, its democratic standards, and its ability to renew itself by giving voice to the new generations of criminologists.
Preventing Violence Against Women Between Compulsory Health Assessments and Public Shaming
The two central components of the Italian Bill 1517 reveal a profound sense of collective disorientation in the face of male violence against women. The legislative response appears to be an expressive and performative one, oscillating between preventive medical punishment and public shaming—offering little room for the layered, nuanced approaches that this deeply sensitive area of intervention requires.
