Criminals are the blithe of our society. They are those who take advantage of our society and the people it contains in order to further them-selves or to fulfill a mental or physical urge. There are many causes for criminal activity, the root being the urge to go against and defy one's leader. The question must arise: why? Do criminals commit these acts on their own free will or is there an outside force which compels them beyond their control to commit these crimes? There are two separate viewpoints that I will be discussing. The first is held by a man named Clarence Darrow who was a humanitarian. "Humanitarianism is an informal ideology of practice, whereby people practice humane treatment and provide assistance to others. It is based on a view that all human beings deserve respect and dignity and should be treated as such. Therefore, humanitarians work towards advancing the well-being of humanity as a whole." (Wikipedia.com) The humanitarian view of criminal activity would tend to believe that it is not a man's fault if he commits a crime but that he is forced to do so because of his environment. Therefore he should not be punished for his actions. The opposite of this would that of C.S. Lewis. Lewis believed in retributive justice which is a "theory of criminal justice wherein punishments are justified on the grounds that the criminal has created an imbalance in the social order that must be addressed by action against the criminal." (Wikapedia.com) In other words, punishment is the only way to deter criminal activity and to cause the criminal to repent. Despite the fact that the environment has the ability to influence the behavior and decision making of humans, o ...