are fairly similar. The index crime rate is
             the number of substantial crimes including robberies, rapes
             and murders, per every 1000 people. In 1950, this crime
             rate was at a mere 52.(Security Information Center) This
             meant on average 52 crimes occurred for every 1000 people in
             the United States. In 1998 the index crime rate was
             reported to be 58, meaning that 58 crimes occurred for every
             1000 people. (SIC) In effect this data seems to show that
             while crime has in fact increased the change has not been so
             immense that society's views should be altered. It is only
             the combined media attention coupled with an increase in
             overall population which makes crime appear more widespread
             and the world seem a more dangerous place, these changes
             fail to affect human nature. Despite the way society has
             changed, mankind continues to have the same needs. Central
             to these needs is the compulsion to determine one's identity
             and where they fit in an ever changing society. To
             determine this, each individual much attempt a spiritual
             journey much in the same way Sal and Dean did in Kerouac's
             On the Road. Being "on the road" is more than just merely
             traveling across the country, it is the process of finding
             who one is by becoming conscious of the world. Sal and Dean
             do not simply go on a trip across the country, instead they
             experience the country and society. On their voyage the two
             young men rebel against the constraints of society. It is
             not until they go on this voyage, however, that they truly
             realize the constraints society has placed on them. Sal
             Paradise and Dean Moriarty discover themselves a little more
             with every person they meet and every place they go. What
             appears to be rebellion is revealed as nothing more than
             experimentation in the hopes of finding themselves. The
             journey these men go on sheds new light on society, and in
             doing so helps unc...