Choosing a micro or macro perspective for understanding organized crime: The contributions of Ernesto Savona

Abstract

An important issue in social science is the perspective taken. In criminology, we endeavor to explain criminal conduct from one of two perspectives: micro and macro. The macro-level approach views the world and its problems from above in that broader social context is seen to produce social problems. The micro-level approach views individual-level experience producing many individual outcomes, which might have larger social implications. The perspective taken makes all the difference in knowing where to begin looking for causation: to the individual or to the larger social context? The contributions of Ernesto Savona in assessing organized crime is examined through these two perspectives.