A crime is a serious offence such as murder or robbery. A punishment is a penalty imposed on somebody who is convicted of a crime. A punishment could be, for example, time in prison or a fine.
Crime |
Definition |
abduction/kidnapping |
taking a person to a secret location using force |
armed robbery |
using a weapon to steal |
arson |
setting fire to a place on purpose |
assault |
hurting another person physically |
attempted murder |
trying to kill someone (but failing) |
burglary,
breaking and entering |
going into another person's home or business with force |
child abuse |
injuring a child on purpose |
domestic violence |
physical assault that occur within the home |
drug trafficking |
trading illegal drugs |
drunk driving |
driving after having too much alcohol |
fraud |
lying or cheating for business or monetary purposes |
hijacking |
holding people in transit hostage (usually on a plane) |
murder/homicide |
taking someone's life through violence |
shoplifting |
stealing merchandise from a store |
smuggling |
bringing products into a country secretly and illegally |
speeding |
driving beyond the speed limit |
terrorism |
acts of crime against a group (political/religious) or another country |
theft |
stealing |
torture |
extremely cruel and unfair treatment (often towards prisoners) |
vandalism |
damaging public or private property (for example with spray paint) |
white collar crime |
breaking the law in business |
Punishment
(example offence) |
Definition |
traffic ticket
(speeding, parking) |
leaves marks on driving record/involves paying a fine |
license suspension
(drunk driving) |
driving rights are removed for a certain period of time |
fine
(hunting out of season) |
pay money as punishment for minor/petty crime |
house arrest
(a young offender who is waiting to go to court) |
remain in one's home for a certain period of time |
community service
(a youth that steals a car for the first time) |
do volunteer work such as teaching children about crime or cleaning up garbage |
jail time
(man who assaults his wife) |
spend a certain amount of months or years locked away from society |
life in prison
(a woman who commits homicide) |
spend the rest of one's life in prison with no chance of going back into society |