Hrvatsko društvo i začarani krug kriminala
The Croatian Society and the Vicious Circle of Crime

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes appearance and acceptance levels of the various deviance forms in Croatian society and the spread of the belief that crime pays off, while honesty and knowledge do not. The vicious circle notion, from sociological theories on poverty, will thereby be used to describe the same logic underlying both crime prevention and its growth. Crime growth can be described via four phases. The first is excess level, followed by the organized crime level, still figuring as acceptable in the developed rules of law (state with its mafia), up to the level lacking the rule of law (mafia with its state), and finally the level at which deviant norms and values govern social relations. The ideal-type concept of the well-ordered society, from John Rawls’s theory, will thereby be applied. It refers to a society with stabilised democracy and efficient rule of law, where crime triggers the perpetrator repression mechanism, which creates the image of crime not being worth a while. Sanction efficiency has multiple preventive effects regarding crime. If individual deviance remains unpunished or a crime is justified because of a “higher cause”, excess becomes regular. In case material goods acquired by fraud remain in the hands of offenders, virtues of diligence and justice cannot be perceived as efficient concerning objective attainment. The potential to break the “vicious circle” resides with political elites, who hold most social power and should direct it towards harmonising economic and cultural capital with human potential in order to create a stimulating social climate.

• Details
• Contents