Defining a Criminal

            The word criminal is defined as, of the nature of or involving a crime punishable by law, or of the nature of a grave offence, wicked. This definition implies that a criminal is anyone who commits acts which satisfy these qualities. Crime has always been around throughout history, always changing but also always fitting in this definition. It has evolved from being made thought of as theft and physical violence in the past to a wide variety of heinous acts today with the improvements in technology and the increase of creativity and brainpower of todays’ people. In our current cultural period technical crimes have become more prominent. People commit fraud to steal others’ money, belongings, and identity. Politicians are involved in criminalistics scandals which affect not only their own lives but the entire nation, and powerful corporate leaders are too frequently seen on the news and in the paper being arrested for a variety of unethical acts such as Ponzi schemes. The definition of criminal was made specifically so it could keep up with the ever changing world of crime. By stating that it is any offensive, wicked act punishable by law, it does not limit itself to being only stealing, murder, or the other commonly thought of crimes, but instead fits a potentially limitless amount of possibilities.

            While the definition gives a set of words by which to classify a “criminal” or “criminal acts” by, there are still some questions which may arise from it. It defines criminal a of the nature of a grave offence, wicked, defining the word based on the point of view of only the victim, not the individual who commits the crime. How would one define an act which, while it may be considered offensive and wicked to one person, may also be done for the good of others? If a man steals from the rich to give the needy, is he a criminal? While an injustice may have been done to the person stolen from, the less fortunate people who the man steals from also benefit from it. In the classic children’s story, while Robin Hood is technically a thief, he is generally not considered to be a criminal, since he helps more people than he hurts. Should each act of crime be studied individually to determine if the good outweighs the bad, of should the general definition of a “criminal” simply be looked at as concrete statement regardless of the circumstances?