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A criminal is an adult who breaks the law in the society he or she is in. History shows that sometimes societies have laws which are not just so the line of being a criminal is not so clear. A just society has reasonable laws. It trains its people to follow the law for their own good and for the good of society. In turn there are few criminals.

People gathered in families and tribes in the early part of societies and the need to have mores to keep control was necessary for the group and to protect individuals. Individuals knew that to survive in their primitive environments they could not be alone but had to gather with others. This came with a price to follow mores or rules. Most adjusted well but some did not and were punished by the leaders in the tribe or cut off from the tribe altogether.

It is no different today! Societies have become very complex and so have laws but generally derive from The Ten Commandments. Judicial systems are sophisticated processes but basically ensure that there is a fair trial with an appropriate punishment. There are public and private prisons in the US. We have the largest population in prisons. The last statistics was that one person out of a hundred in America is in prison.

Most people follow the law naturally since we know what is right and wrong. Doing the right thing is what most people want to do. Yet, in every society there are few who do the wrong thing and generally it is against the law. Why?

Sociologists, psychologists, and criminologists continue to figure out why a person breaks a law. Sometimes they do but it is still against the law and the person has to be punished. Policemen and policewoman are in the fore -front of this defiance. They understand that the why is not as revelant as the fact that the law was broken. Society suffers and consequences are there for the criminals. They also know that a person is innocent until proven guilty; however, they have seen the crime and it is clear that the individuals involved are criminals.

Sometimes a person or persons are in the wrong place and the wrong time with the wrong people. Individuals may break the law but they never intended to do so. That is why we have a judicial system. On the other hand most who break the law intended to do just that.

The majority of people learn to follow the law at home. The family structure is the first place where human beings learn to respect and love others by following the rules of the family members. Dad and mom are the ones who have

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