Italian Sociological Review

Feeling Under Stress “Like on a Production Line” as Thinking Is Not Your Job: Some Insights on Intention to Leave in Healthcare Services Work

Anna Carreri, Valeria Toniolo, Cristina Lonardi — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Work-related stress, burnout, and job dissatisfaction are constantly growing phenomena in the Italian healthcare context, as well as in international healthcare systems, potentially leading to a significant loss in terms of human and financial capital. This article aims to shed light on the factors that fuel disaffection and alienation among frontline healthcare professionals in the Italian public healthcare system. The question is addressed through a qualitative case study of a specific group of frontline healthcare professionals who have been poorly explored in the literature to date – physiotherapists – within a territorial hospital in Northern Italy. Semi-structured interviews with all the physiotherapists working in the organizational case study were collected. Our detailed thematic analysis of the interviews revealed five main dimensions of quality of work life that can produce situations of disaffection and alienation: the emotional, organizational, relational, work-life balance, and symbolic dimensions. We argue that the mechanisms underlying the sense of alienation which may prompt physiotherapists to contemplate a change in company or profession are drawn from distinctive features of work in (healthcare) frontline services. The analysis sheds light on the fatigue of emotional overload; the marginal position of physiotherapists in the service triangle in the healthcare context, which is physician-centred; the intensification of work rhythms linked to Taylorization processes of the healthcare system; and interestingly, the lack of reward mechanisms – both material ones, in terms of flexible hours, conciliation policies, and training opportunities, and mainly in terms of symbolic and social recognition for intellectual labour of healthcare professionals, i.e. physiotherapists.

Opportunities and Barriers for Lecturers’ Career Progression: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Labour Market

Nu Nguyet Anh Nguyen, Ninh Nguyen — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Scientific labour market mobility is important for stability in tertiary education worldwide. The systematic research evaluates academic career progression challenges and trends through analysis of 792 Web of Science and Scopus papers spanning from 1990 to 2025. A bibliometric study identified research trends and nodes. and Scopus papers spanning from 1990 to 2025. Gender equality problems combine with limited funding alongside restrictive institutional barriers to create barriers for women in educational development. Limited professional development, international cooperation, and adoption of educational technology remain major challenges. Conversely, growth opportunities include enhanced leadership training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and digital transformation, all of which foster innovation and equity. This study reinforces equality, employability, and leadership as the main elements shaping academic career mobility. More importantly, this study suggests future paths of research that include the support of multicultural and multidisciplinary scholarships, and the expansion of engagement in higher education. The bibliometric analysis revealed a growing trend in research in providing equity for academic opportunities to minority ethnic and socioeconomic background groups.

The Radical In/Visibility of Speciesism and Non-human Animals Intrinsic Rights

Danila Genovese — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Non-human animals eem to be almost invisible within Political science and Sociology. Primarily, they are represented as part of the natural environment, deprived of sentiency, agency, and mostly of intrinsic rights to life. Luckily, there are a few authors who address this epistemological gap in the field, and offer a very much needed conceptual re-elaboration of the relationship between the Human and the Animal.

In their provocative collection Aphro-ism authors Aph and Syl Ko offer new theoretical frameworks on race, activism regarding non-human animals, and feminism. They engage in the analysis of the interconnected forms of oppressions between species and, by using a feminist approach, they provide a very much needed deconstruction of Eurocentric narratives of race and species.

This paper explores whether the notion of interconnectedness of oppression between ‘sub-humanized’ groups and non-human animals, as elaborated by Aph and Syl Ko, can offer effective theoretical and political instruments for advocating for animal liberation and the enforcement of their moral and legal rights. It questions the extent to which any comparison, analogy and eventually coalescence of the notion of human and animal oppression supports a theory and a practice of shared justice or conversely reiterates narratives of anthropocentrism, without leading to a paradigm shift that proposes non- human animals as intrinsic rights- holders and veganism as an obligation towards them.

Companion or Stray? Conflicting Beliefs of Veterinary Professionals and Animal Help Volunteers in Latvia

Staņislavs Šeiko, Aleksandra Možarova — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In Latvia veterinarians, veterinary inspectors, and homeless animal help volunteers are the main social groups involved in animal rights protection. They frequently engage with companion or stray animals, and their beliefs regarding the moral value of animals and comprehension of animal rights may affect their perspectives on the topic of pets and strays. Prior research has revealed the existing contradictions between veterinary professionals and homeless animal help volunteers in Latvia. This study investigates the possible causes of these contradictions by analysing informants’ beliefs regarding the moral status, value, and legal rights of companion animals and stray animals. The animal is used as an explanatory instrument in this study, conducted from 2022 to 2024 and utilizing a qualitative methodology. 30 semi-structured interviews offer a refined comprehension of the distinctions between veterinary professionals and volunteers. The beliefs of volunteers are frequently shaped by emotional ties to animals, resulting in a moral advocacy for their rights. In contrast, veterinary professionals ground their beliefs in the Five Freedoms framework and practical considerations of animal welfare, which may conflict with the emotional motivations of volunteers. Conflicting perspectives on legal rights result in varied interpretations of ethical treatment and care for animals. Also, diversities in beliefs significantly influence the management of stray animal populations, potentially resulting in conflict or ineffective policy outcomes if not properly handled, as well as affecting the legislative reforms aimed at improving the welfare of domestic and stray animals.

Socialization Dynamics and Value System Crisis in Multicultural Setting: Implication to Adult Learning and Social Policy in Nigeria Institutions of Higher Learning

Andrew N. Ogbochie, Samuel Okafor, Kingsley A. Ogbonnaya, Ekaette Okop — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Value system crisis, which is behind majority of other crises in the society across the globe, can be located behind the issues of socialization crisis. This study focused on understanding and explaining the aforementioned issues among Nigerian students in the higher institutions of learning. The study involving multicultural contexts included some 2400 students from 16 institutions of higher learning and more than 30 ethnic and socio-cultural groups from across Nigeria. The study adopted survey design with questionnaire instrument from the combination of Familial Ethnic Socialization Measure (FESM), California Psychological Inventory Socialization scale (CPI-So), Parental Socialization Scale ESPA29 (English translation) and Social Value Questionnaire (SVQ) with modifications to capture the major thrust of the study and the current issues in the environment of the study. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS version 23, while percentage, correlation and regression statistics were deployed to check for relationship of variables. According to the major findings of the study, socialization dynamics [SD1] is positively correlated with value system crisis-1 [VSC-1] (p<000, r.218), but negatively correlated with VSC-2 (p<000, r-.192) and VSC-3 (p<000, r-.275). Value system crisis was predicted by gender of the students, age, study year, religion, family background, etc. (R= 0.829, F= 65.027, P= .001). The study recommends robust policy transformation in institutions of higher learning in Nigeria for strong social institution.

Training in Progress. Communication Skills and Cultural Background of Italian Journalists

Giacomo Buoncompagni — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article investigated the relationship between media and justice, between journalists and jurists, in relation to hate crimes and their hidden forms, focusing on anti-Semitism, the main subject of the research. Favouring a socio-cultural perspective of the phenomenon, after a short theoretical parenthesis (concerning the study of national and international literature on the topic of anti-Semitism and the contemporary media system), the paper will present the results of focus groups addressed to participants belonging to two different categories of publics: freelance and professional journalists and Italian lawyer-magistrates.

The analysis focuses on the professionalism and responsibility of journalists and jurists in dealing with anti-Semitic phenomena and hate in general. Specifically, the study will investigate the journalistic culture in relation to the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, taking into account the complexity and ‘gaps’ of criminal law in Italy regarding hate news.

The Boundaries of the Human: The Relationship Between Natural, Cultural, and Artificial

Simone D'Alessandro — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What constitutes the ‘absolutely other’ for the human being in relational terms?

How do nature and culture relate to the human being and orientate his constitution?

Are there insurmountable limits that distinguish humans from the natural and artificial non-human?

Starting with these research questions, we will trace theories and paradigms in the sociological and anthropological fields that from the 19th century to the present have generated and constructed fractured relationships - the result of dualist, stereotyped, and conflictual interpretations - between natural, cultural, and artificial.

Continuing the analysis from a comparative perspective, contradictions and unanswered questions will be highlighted.

The Use of Typology in Sociology

Marco Di Gregorio, Zenia Simonella — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article presents an analysis of the manner in which typology is used, particularly in the field of sociology. Searching the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1990a random selection of 686 scientific articles was extracted from a total of 1173 in which the term typology appears. The authors then analysed the degree of conformity to the classic Aristotelian model and its variants, finding examples of terminological confusion as well as errors of a semantic or gnoseological nature. The results of the analysis show that the classic Aristotelian typology continues to be present in the scientific journals, even if an increasing tendency can be seen towards an “extensional” method of construction through the use of multivariate techniques of analysis. Almost half of the sample considered displays incorrect uses of the term, or errors where other conceptual objects (classifications, taxonomies, classes, types and taxa) are identified with typology. Such errors were found even in articles published in journals considered of high prestige. The authors conclude that typology, with the heuristic advantages it offers, continues to constitute an important tool for the social scientist and that criticism or distrust directed at it often derive from inadequate cognizance or from misguided attempts to equate the spheres of thought, of language and of reality.

Marradi and Language

Paolo Montesperelli — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The methodological reflection made by Alberto Marradi is critical and innovative also thanks to his original attention towards gnoseology. In his two most recent volumes this attention is even more in-depth. According to Marradi, knowledge is the result of the interaction among three crucial “spheres”: referents, thought and language. At least from the “linguistic turn” onwards, language has become a protagonist in many fields of knowledge; but this protagonism is understood in different ways and gives rise to controversies. The first part of this essay concerns the conception of language according to Marradi, with various references to the current debate. The second part illustrates the use of language by Marradi himself, both in his writing methods and in his activity as an educator. This gives rise to a completely original and fundamental teaching in the panorama of social sciences.

While the first two are object How The first part of this article illustrates and comments on Marradi’s conception of language. The second part is dedicated to how Marradi himself uses language.

Interview to Alberto Marradi

Domenico Secondulfo — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

An interview with Alberto Marradi on the most important moments in his academic and scientific career.