Luci e ombre nella prospettiva criminologica sullo 'status' di vittima del minore abusato

A twilight criminological approach to the victim "status" of the abused child - The victimological zeal currently burning in the public debate on penal matters, including the cyclical and often irrational focus on child abuse in the media and politics, has certainly helped in turning public and professional attention to this serious crime. Criminology however should not react passively to public scares and thus not restrict its role in the supply of knowledge on the best way to enforce "rough" policies, but also re-discover, together with the victim, its critical roots. This means an effort to analyse the social contradictions which favour the use of the child as a means to legitimize a widespread culture of control (and which not rarely hinder in itself a full social and official understanding of child "relational" languages), as well as to be very cautious in the application of clinical prediction to the abused child. In pursuing this critical perspective, criminology could usefully integrate within its "discourse" the achievement of new theories of justice, such as the capability approach. Key words: child abuse, criminology, victim, capability approach. Parole chiave: abuso all’infanzia, criminologia, vittima, approccio delle capacita.