Corruption activity in Russia is one of the most acute problems. The trend is not changing for the better: today, within the framework of modern Russian society, corruption is no longer represented as a private criminal act, but as a mass social phenomenon that has a well-functioning toolkit within the framework of a latently formed social institution. This article provides an analysis of the determinants of corruption crime, examines the process of constructing social deviance as an inevitable consequence of corruption through the prism of various sociological theories, which, intertwining with each other in a thin line, demonstrate a close connection between the subjects of corrupt activities and the general conditions of life in Russian society.