Natural Crime versus Legal Crime

There have been moments in history when individuals have committed a violent act against other individuals as a result of a “wrong” glance at his or her spouse or significant other. Many would agree that they do not appreciate someone else staring at their significant other in an inviting manner. However, does this mean they have the right to walk up and physically attack another person? Although looking at someone is no crime, some may see it as wrong. The terms natural crime and legal crime are disputed everyday in modern society. The question is: does one crime outweigh the other?Certain crimes occur in America in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has categorized as major crimes. It takes these crimes and publishes a yearly crime rate report that shows the progress or decline in preventing these major crimes from occurring. They are broken down as follows: murder, forcible rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

MurderMurder is the illegal killing of one human being by another (Wikipedia, 2007). All jurisdictions consider murder the most serious crime and impose a severe penalty for its commission.

Forcible RapeForcible Rape is the carnal knowledge of a person forcibly against another person’s will or when a victim is mentally or physically incapable of giving consent (South Carolina Law Enforcement, 2001). Attempts to commit rape also fall into this category.

Robbery. Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. More precisely robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent permanently to deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear (MacYoung, 1993).

Aggravated Assault. Assault is a crime of violence against another person (Wikipedia, 2007). In the United States, assault refers only to the threat of violence caused by an...