At home there are unknown possibilities. A comparative research on oikophobia

Abstract

This essay presents an overview of the main results of the burglaries research, a little-discussed and studied topic. Collection, organization, and analysis of empirical data have been carried out by two working groups at the university of L'Aquila and at the IULM University of Milan. Research has gone on for twenty years and has accumulated an impressive amount of data, from a comparative perspective and with extensive references to the classics of sociology, criminology, philosophy, political science, and literature. Starting from the Italian situation, comparisons are presented regarding the situation existing in other European countries, because the differences between various areas are very significant. This essay explores also the themes of the relationship between the house and democracy, treated in a sociological tradition that includes authors such as Max Weber and Anthony Giddens. The idea of an unmotivated aversion to one's home environment has had some success in Roger Scruton's use of it.