ICSA TODAY 26
Report From Italy
Raffaella Di Marzo
Follow-Up on Archeon’s Case: Trial
The first phase of the trial against
the association Arkeon ended in July
2012. The founder and seven masters
had been charged with conspiracy for
abuse of the psychological profession.
The sentences imposed on those
defendants and three others ranged
from 2 years and 8 months to 1 year
and 6 months in prison.
On May 28, 2015, the defendants
appealed their sentences, seeking to
be found not guilty of the charges
against them. In November 2015, the
Court of Appeal of Bari rendered its
verdict in the criminal case against 11
members of Arkeon. Two defendants
were cleared of all charges. The
others were exonerated from the
most serious charges in the first trial
but were sentenced for operating as
psychologists without a license. They
filed an appeal, hoping also to be
cleared of this charge, but the Court of
Appeal confirmed the original verdict.
The defendants have now submitted a
further appeal to the Italian Supreme
Court.
Conferences
(a) Raffaella Di Marzio presented
the paper La Persona tra identità
e diversità, individualità e
appartenenza. Le molteplici sfide
di una società multiculturale
e multireligiosa (The Person
Between Identity and Diversity,
Individuality, and Belonging:
The Many Challenges of a
Multicultural and Multireligious
Society) at the XVI Rosminiano
Symposium Persona, Psiche
e Società (Person, Psyche,
and Society), in Stresa (Milan)
on August 25, 2015. The
symposium was organized by
Centro Internazionale di Studi
Rosminiani (the International
Center of Rosminian Studies)
and by the Conferenza
Episcopale Italiana (The Bishops’
Conference of Italy). A video of
the conference is available at
cattedrarosmini.org/site/view/
view.md=view&id=237&menu
1=m2&menu2=m36&menu3=
m420&videoid=1021, and the
presentation slides are available
at dimarzio.info/it/docum/
finish/34-attivita/381-simposio-
la-persona-tra-identita-e-
diversita-slides.html
(b) On November 21, 2015, the
Italian Society for the Psychology
of Religion (SIPR) and The
University of Milano Bicocca
organized a conference titled
Coping and Religion. Raffaella
Di Marzio presented a paper,
Early Family Experiences and
Coping When Affiliated With New
Religious Movements.
(c) On December 21, 2015,
the European Federation
for Freedom of Belief (FOB)
held its first conference at
the Chamber of Deputies,
titled Laicity and Freedom
of Belief in Italy: Reports,
Suggestions, Evidence—
Presentation of European
Federation for Freedom of Belief.
About 70 people, including
representatives of nine religious
and spiritual minorities and
four European nongovernment
organizations (NGOs), attended
the event. An article about
the Conference is available at
freedomofbelief.net/activities/
presentation-european-
federation-freedom-belief-fob-
montecitorio-palace. The video
in Italian is also available at
freedomofbelief.net/it/attivita/
presentazione-della-european-
federation-freedom-belief-fob-
montecitorio#video
(d) The Italian Society for the
Psychology of Religion (SIPR)
will organize an international
conference in Italy in October
2016 entitled Religion Between
Pro-Sociality and Violence.
The Conference will focus on
the topics of prosociality and
violence, both as opposed to,
and also possibly fostered by,
religion or religious faith. In light
of the complexity of these topics
and the several levels of analysis
(individual, social, historical,
educative), the goal of the
conference is to deal with both
the positive (peace, pluralism,
interreligious dialogue, well-
being) and the negative
(intolerance, persecutions, ritual
mutilations, homicides/suicides,
terrorism) facets of religious
belonging and practice.
(e) The next International
Association for the Psychology
of Religion conference is
scheduled for May 26–27,
2016, in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Organized in collaboration with
the International Conference
of Interfaculty Departments
of Religious Studies, the focus
of the conference will be Self-
Narratives, Storytelling, and
the Construction of Religious
Identities.
The aim of this conference will
be to present and compare the
different ways an individual
uses narratives produced in a
religious context to construct an
identity. The 2-day conference
will cover different types of
texts—myths, exemplary stories
(e.g., lives of saints), fictions
used for teaching (e.g., parables,
visions), and autobiographical
stories (e.g., testimonials of
experience)—that form part of
the construction of narrative
identity through the process of
Correspondents
,
Reports
Report From Italy
Raffaella Di Marzo
Follow-Up on Archeon’s Case: Trial
The first phase of the trial against
the association Arkeon ended in July
2012. The founder and seven masters
had been charged with conspiracy for
abuse of the psychological profession.
The sentences imposed on those
defendants and three others ranged
from 2 years and 8 months to 1 year
and 6 months in prison.
On May 28, 2015, the defendants
appealed their sentences, seeking to
be found not guilty of the charges
against them. In November 2015, the
Court of Appeal of Bari rendered its
verdict in the criminal case against 11
members of Arkeon. Two defendants
were cleared of all charges. The
others were exonerated from the
most serious charges in the first trial
but were sentenced for operating as
psychologists without a license. They
filed an appeal, hoping also to be
cleared of this charge, but the Court of
Appeal confirmed the original verdict.
The defendants have now submitted a
further appeal to the Italian Supreme
Court.
Conferences
(a) Raffaella Di Marzio presented
the paper La Persona tra identità
e diversità, individualità e
appartenenza. Le molteplici sfide
di una società multiculturale
e multireligiosa (The Person
Between Identity and Diversity,
Individuality, and Belonging:
The Many Challenges of a
Multicultural and Multireligious
Society) at the XVI Rosminiano
Symposium Persona, Psiche
e Società (Person, Psyche,
and Society), in Stresa (Milan)
on August 25, 2015. The
symposium was organized by
Centro Internazionale di Studi
Rosminiani (the International
Center of Rosminian Studies)
and by the Conferenza
Episcopale Italiana (The Bishops’
Conference of Italy). A video of
the conference is available at
cattedrarosmini.org/site/view/
view.md=view&id=237&menu
1=m2&menu2=m36&menu3=
m420&videoid=1021, and the
presentation slides are available
at dimarzio.info/it/docum/
finish/34-attivita/381-simposio-
la-persona-tra-identita-e-
diversita-slides.html
(b) On November 21, 2015, the
Italian Society for the Psychology
of Religion (SIPR) and The
University of Milano Bicocca
organized a conference titled
Coping and Religion. Raffaella
Di Marzio presented a paper,
Early Family Experiences and
Coping When Affiliated With New
Religious Movements.
(c) On December 21, 2015,
the European Federation
for Freedom of Belief (FOB)
held its first conference at
the Chamber of Deputies,
titled Laicity and Freedom
of Belief in Italy: Reports,
Suggestions, Evidence—
Presentation of European
Federation for Freedom of Belief.
About 70 people, including
representatives of nine religious
and spiritual minorities and
four European nongovernment
organizations (NGOs), attended
the event. An article about
the Conference is available at
freedomofbelief.net/activities/
presentation-european-
federation-freedom-belief-fob-
montecitorio-palace. The video
in Italian is also available at
freedomofbelief.net/it/attivita/
presentazione-della-european-
federation-freedom-belief-fob-
montecitorio#video
(d) The Italian Society for the
Psychology of Religion (SIPR)
will organize an international
conference in Italy in October
2016 entitled Religion Between
Pro-Sociality and Violence.
The Conference will focus on
the topics of prosociality and
violence, both as opposed to,
and also possibly fostered by,
religion or religious faith. In light
of the complexity of these topics
and the several levels of analysis
(individual, social, historical,
educative), the goal of the
conference is to deal with both
the positive (peace, pluralism,
interreligious dialogue, well-
being) and the negative
(intolerance, persecutions, ritual
mutilations, homicides/suicides,
terrorism) facets of religious
belonging and practice.
(e) The next International
Association for the Psychology
of Religion conference is
scheduled for May 26–27,
2016, in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Organized in collaboration with
the International Conference
of Interfaculty Departments
of Religious Studies, the focus
of the conference will be Self-
Narratives, Storytelling, and
the Construction of Religious
Identities.
The aim of this conference will
be to present and compare the
different ways an individual
uses narratives produced in a
religious context to construct an
identity. The 2-day conference
will cover different types of
texts—myths, exemplary stories
(e.g., lives of saints), fictions
used for teaching (e.g., parables,
visions), and autobiographical
stories (e.g., testimonials of
experience)—that form part of
the construction of narrative
identity through the process of
Correspondents
,
Reports
