Purpose: The paper examines the levels on which various forms of deviance appear and get to be tolerated from the point of view of social actors. The failure to sanction crime leads to the spread of the belief that crime pays off, creating the vicious circle of crime. The purpose is to suggest potential ways of exiting it and creating preconditions for a well-ordered society, and to broaden the research perspective from crime to deviant social structures and cultural patterns. Design/methodology/approach: The concepts of vicious circle and well-ordered society are used to analyse whether life experience, especially the lack of crime sanctioning in post socialist countries, promotes deviance and the lack of trust in the rule of law. Vicious circle is created because the fight against crime is governed by the same rationale that led to it in the first place, which includes a cost-benefit analysis based on partial and individual versus common and general interests, as well as employing political power in determining socially (un)acceptable actions. The appearance and development of crime can be viewed on four levels: excess level, organized crime level (a state with its mafia), the level with no rule of law (a mafia with its state), and the level on which deviant norms and values govern social relations. Methodology includes the examination of the most frequent forms of criminal activities and deviant social processes (e.g. putting the political before the professional), that maintain distrust towards the rule of law. Contextual factors, primarily cultural, which make people inclined to choose deviant methods in realizing social and individual goals are also studied. Finally, the potential to exit the vicious circle regarding social actors is examined. Findings: The potential to break the "vicious circle" and move towards a well-ordered society can be realized by raising general critical awareness as a prerequisite for harmonising economic and cultural capital with human potential in order to create a stimulating social climate. The power that should be directed towards realizing this potential resides with both nongovernmental social actors and political elites. Also, the responsibility that has to be taken for deviant actions in a well-ordered society is not only political, but also criminal and material. The authors have found that it is necessary to analyse deviance via its harmful social consequences, which are often left unquestioned and unpunished, resulting in what can no longer be studied as criminal behaviour but a deviant social structure and deviant cultural patterns. Originality/value: The paper moves from the content of deviant actions, individual criminal activities or structural factors leading to them, to social actors. In addition to this, deviance is not understood through causes, but harmful consequences arising from social relations, patterns in social structures, or decisions of political elites. Also, the notion of crime is broadened to the notion of deviant social structure and deviant cultural norms.
