Over the years, Americans have developed mechanisms that institute and enforce the rules of society as well as assign responsibility and punish offenders.
In fact, before formal rules, laws, and institutions were established in the United States, Americans relied on religion and sin as a means of shaping society and its behaviors.
Many colonial crime codes were defined in biblical terms, making offenses such as profanity, blasphemy, and sacrileges of the Sabbath highly punishable.
Crime – "ongoing conspiratorial enterprise engaged in illicit activities as a means of generating income (as black money).
"[3] a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in the U.S., Italy, and elsewhere.
Retrieved February 14, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/larceny an unlawful act causing injury to the person, property, or rights of another, committed with force or violence, actual or implied.