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Degree Course in

Psychology

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FAMILY LAW

Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: ILENIA RAPISARDA

Expected Learning Outcomes

The course aims to provide students with knowledge of the main institutions of family law, with particular regard to the legal relationships, personal and patrimonial, of different family “forms”. It also aims to provide the tools to interpret and understand the impact of new social phenomena and regulatory instruments on emotional relationships (e.g., Sharenting or the regulations on medically assisted procreation).

Course Structure

Classroom teaching will be conducted in such a way as to actively involve students, who will be encouraged to reflect and contribute, especially on topics of current interest. There will also be a workshop with a professional psychologist and psychotherapist, who will discuss one or more practical cases.

Required Prerequisites

Knowledge of the evolution of social systems, their founding characteristics, and their interrelationships.

Attendance of Lessons

Non - mandatory frequency.

Detailed Course Content

  1.  The evolution of family law and family transformations.
  2. The different “models” of family.
  3. Personal and property relations between spouses.
  4. The parent-child relationship.
  5. The effects of couple crisis on children.
  6. Filiation. Rights and duties.
  7. Custody and adoption.
  8. Family, bioethics, and biotechnology (medically assisted procreation and voluntary termination of pregnancy).
  9. Protection orders against domestic abuse.
  10. The special guardian.
  11. Minors and privacy. So-called sharenting.

Textbook Information

- Study materials for non-attending students, consisting of a collection of essays, are available on the studium platform.

- Handouts on the specif topics covered in class will be provided for attending students.

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The final exam will assess the argumentative and reflective skills acquired by the student during the course.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

- Parental responsibility.

- The effects of separation on minors.

- The adoption process.

- The powers of the special guardian of the minor.

- Assisted reproductive technology and status filiationis.

- Sharenting.