# Let's rank all crimes in order of badness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245 "2008-09-05T23:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/41 "2008-09-06T09:59:38Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Ok Mangetout, how/why is rape worse than child abuse? Sorry about that - I wasn’t paying too much attention to the order of the existing list, except to try to find an appropriate position for clownicide. It won’t happen again - maybe you can choose an appropriate slot for the crime of not paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/42 "2008-09-06T14:08:40Z")
Hedley Lamarr: You said rape twice. Thug: I _like_ rape! ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/43 "2008-09-06T14:36:28Z")
Child abuse ranks up there with murder for me - maybe higher - a murderer might not murder again - I’m still confused as to why child sex offenders are released from prison. It’s robbery of the soul. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/44 "2008-09-06T14:56:37Z")
If we’re narrowing down rape to rape by a friend or a loved one, I think I might say that’s worst. I remember studying in psych of sexuality, the idea of childhood sexual abuse and the two factors were (I think) how prolonged or severe the abuse was and how close the child was to the person, the reasoning being that a child sexually abused by their family member would probably have a lot more trust issues than someone raped by a stranger. But then again, I don’t really like the idea of saying one person’s suffering is worse than any other’s… ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/45 "2008-09-06T15:20:41Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > A 90 year old isn’t expected to live 5 or 10 more years. In fact, the average life expectancy is more like 75, so by murdering a 90 year old you’re actually _giving_ him 15 years. You should get a ribbon! I know that’s a joke, but of course 75 years is the average life expectancy _at birth_. A 90-year-old person does have a few years of expected life left. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/46 "2008-09-06T15:47:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > If we’re narrowing down rape to rape by a friend or a loved one, I think I might say that’s worst. I remember studying in psych of sexuality, the idea of childhood sexual abuse and the two factors were (I think) how prolonged or severe the abuse was and how close the child was to the person, the reasoning being that a child sexually abused by their family member would probably have a lot more trust issues than someone raped by a stranger. But then again, I don’t really like the idea of saying one person’s suffering is worse than any other’s… It’s murky stuff indeed, interesting points. I have a male friend who was jumped on and beaten randomly - he wasn’t raped but he suffered very very badly thereafter with fear, trust, going out after dark, being alone etc. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/47 "2008-09-07T06:51:54Z")
> [@CutterJohn](#): > > One wonders why people rank torture as worse than murder. You can recover from torture and have a life. You can’t recover from death. It seems to me that causing someone much pain and suffering is still better than erasing the entire existence of a person. When you’re dead, you’re dead. I imagine it can’t be that worse than sleep, and it’s going to happen to you anyway, it’s just a matter of when. Torture is something you’re going to have to live with your entire life. Your one and only life. Especially if you have visible scars to remind you of your time in the torture chamber. Imagine some of the psychological torture techniques, like making you repeatedly watch the video tape of your wife and kids getting killed. And then if you’re young enough, you have a reasonable chance of living 50-80 more years with the pain and possibly crippling effects of that memory. It adds up to one of the most horrible things you can do to a person. I would expect death by itself to be a cake walk in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245/48 "2008-09-07T07:05:40Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > When you’re dead, you’re dead. I imagine it can’t be that worse than sleep, and it’s going to happen to you anyway, it’s just a matter of when. > > Torture is something you’re going to have to live with your entire life. Your one and only life. Especially if you have visible scars to remind you of your time in the torture chamber. Imagine some of the psychological torture techniques, like making you repeatedly watch the video tape of your wife and kids getting killed. And then if you’re young enough, you have a reasonable chance of living 50-80 more years with the pain and possibly crippling effects of that memory. It adds up to one of the most horrible things you can do to a person. > > I would expect death by itself to be a cake walk in comparison. All politics aside, McCain has made a pretty good run at life since being tortured. Career in the US senate, married to a hot younger rich lady, 2 bids for the presidency . . . the boys that were killed while he was being tortured know nothing of the last 40 years. They didn’t get to come home, have kids, and lead any kind of life at all. Torture sucks balls, but murder is still worse IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-all-crimes-in-order-of-badness/462245.md?page=2)