Sociological Methods and Construction of Local Welfare in Italy.

In applied sociology, concepts, theories, models and patterns of expla- nation are used for the study of social phenomena; they provide a starting point to plan social policies. The methods of social research are designed to identify, describe and explain the social needs of individuals, groups and communities. Giving an “objective” definition of the social needs of people is difficult but necessary. Fre- quently, the planning of welfare services is not orientated towards the actual needs expressed by the citizens but follows a different course. The role of pre-evaluation is strongly emphasised in the planning and construction of the welfare system. In this chapter are described the methods of analysis of social needs and the models of local welfare in Italy. In the first section I describe the importance of the study of the social care needs of the population for the construction of the local welfare system. In the second section I describe some aspects of local welfare system in Italy.