Childhood, family, and social networks

  1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Research areas
  4. Childhood, family, and social networks
This area of research focuses on childhood, family, and social networks, and examines, through basic and applied research, how children learn and develop in the social contexts they live in, how one develops the ability to communicate with others from the very first days of life, and acquire the use of language. In addition, this research aims to analyse today's families and their role in relation to education, as well as the educational practices that can adequately support children during their growth.

This area explores the following lines of research:

  • Infant research;
  • language acquisition and development;
  • families, family relations and parenthood;
  • the development of emotional competence;
  • educational activities for children;
  • cooperation and conflict between groups.
Chiara Barachetti
Research Scholarship Holders
Paola Di Nicola
Temporary Professor
Manuela Lavelli
Research Assistants
Marinella Majorano
Associate Professor
Giuseppina Messetti
Temporary Professor
Daniela Raccanello
Associate Professor
Chiara Sità
Associate Professor
Elena Trifiletti
Associate Professor
Debora Viviani
Temporary Assistant Professor
Research interests
Topic People Description
Education (see  DDC classification)
Interview techniques in qualitative research Chiara Sità
 		Designing, conducting and analyzing interviews in qualitative research
Theory and practice of education (see  DDC classification)
Infancy and Early Childhood Education and Care Giuseppina Messetti
 		Analysis of educational practices in nursery schools. Development of professional skills in infant observation and design of educational projects.
Psychology, Applied (see  DDC classification)
Intergroup relations Elena Trifiletti
 		In this line of research I analyze the cognitive, affective, and behavioral underpinnings of intergroup relations, with a focus on cross-race lie detection.
Psychology, Developmental (see  DDC classification)
Language acquisition and development Chiara Barachetti
 Manuela Lavelli
 Marinella Majorano
 		The research investigates the interaction between individual and contextual factors -particularly linguistic input and support provided by parents and teachers- in child language acquisition and development in typical, atypical (DLD, CIs) and at-risk (low-income, immigrant) populations.
Infant research Manuela Lavelli
 		The research investigates the first processes of infant mental development by focusing on the dynamic of mother(father)-infant communication in the very first months of life. The analysis is aimed mainly to shed light on factors underlying individual differences in developmental trajectories. Cross-cultural studies and studies with at-risk populations (very preterm infants) are included.
Methods to study change processes Manuela Lavelli
 		Specific research methods (referred to as microgenetic designs) that use multiple case study and combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses to allow the researcher to closely observe processes of change, instead of products, in individual and relational development.
Psychology of traumatic events Daniela Raccanello
 		Memory and representation of traumatic events in adults and children. Interventions on emotional prevention referred to traumatic events.
Psychology, Educational (see  DDC classification)
Inclusion and well-being in school Marinella Majorano
 		Th study of individual and contextual factors related to inclusion and well-being in school of children with special educational needs
Psychology, Multidisciplinary (see  DDC classification)
Psychology of emotional development Daniela Raccanello
 		Development of emotional competence. Development of representations of naif concepts.
Psychology, Social (see  DDC classification)
Intergroup contact Elena Trifiletti
 		In this line of research I investigate cooperative intergroup contact as a prejudice reduction strategy.
Sociology (see  DDC classification)
Structures, relationships and functions of the family Paola Di Nicola
 		Specific in-depth objects: structural and relational changes in the family (particularly in Italy); the impact of political policies on family structures and functions; changes in relationships between couples and between generations and their impact on the demographic framework and on the demand for services; new family configurations and changes in the cultural models of parenting: from heterosexual parenting to homosexual parenting, from biological parenting to social parenting. The impact of new medically assisted procreation techniques on couple relationships and on the concept of filiation. Division of homework between males and females, care work and its management at family and social level.
Studio delle tecniche di genitorialità assistita Debora Viviani
 		Analisi delle nuove configurazioni familiari e cambiamenti nei modelli culturali della genitorialità: dalla genitorilità biologica a quella sociale. Studio dell'impatto delle nuove tecniche di procreazione medicalmente assistita sulla percezione corporea, in termini di responsabilità e libertà alla procreazione e alla filiazione.
Gruppi di ricerca
Name Description URL
APsyM - Applied Psychology Measurement Group Il Gruppo si occupa di misurazione, progettazione di disegni di ricerca e analisi dei dati in psicologia, partendo da un forte ancoraggio con una concreta realtà di ricerca che lancia continue sfide dal punto di vista metodologico.
Azione di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Dipartimento - EMOZIONI (ARIdip – EMOZIONI) Il Gruppo vede nelle emozioni l’oggetto di studio teorico-empirico nel panorama delle scienze umane, valorizzando il contributo che le aree filosofica, psico-pedagogica e sociologica possono apportare.
Azione di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Dipartimento - ETICA DELLA RICERCA (ARIdip - ETICA DELLA RICERCA) Il gruppo di etica della ricerca si occupa del ruolo dell'etica e della politica nella produzione di conoscenza scientifica.
Azione di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Dipartimento - SCUOLA (ARIdip – SCUOLA) ll Gruppo propone un progetto di ricerca sul tema "Scuola e coesione sociale in Italia".
SLD-Group, Research Group on Social & Language Development Ricerca sui primi processi di sviluppo sociale e comunicativo-linguistico
Sociologia dei consumi Il Gruppo si occupa dell'analisi dei comportamenti di consumo e interfaccia le sue riflessioni e le sue indagini anche con le tematiche legate al mutamento sociale e alla sociologia della salute e del benessere.

Activities

Research facilities

Libraries

Centres

Laboratories

Spin off and companies

Share