  Thesis provides an analysis of various aspects theory of gravity seen as a
deformation of a topological SO(2,3) BF theory. Considered framework,
originating from the 70's and known as MacDowell-Mansouri gravity, assures the
most general form of action, containing the Einstein-Cartan action with a
negative cosmological constant, the Holst term, and the topological Euler,
Pontryagin and Nieh-Yan invariants. Main goal was to investigate the presence
of Barbero-Immirzi parameter in the context of supergravity, as well as black
hole thermodynamics arising from the gravitational Noether charges.
