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Shoplifting in Middle America: Patterns and Motivational Correlates

Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA

Five patterns of shoplifting were identified in a clinical study of 300 shoplifters conducted in a court setting. 67.6 per cent reported weekly shoplifting. Overall, 56 per cent were males. Among adults, 56.5 per cent were women. Character defects (personality disorders), not mental illnesses, were the pre dominant form of pathology according to guidelines in DSM-III. Financial benefit was the primary motivation in 67.7 per cent of the cases. Economic disadvantage appeared to be a contri buting factor in 72 per cent of the adult chronic shoplifters. Mental illnesses were distributed about equally between genders. However, nearly twice as many women were experiencing psycho social stressors. The recommended treatment intervention is short-term crisis counseling followed by education which encour ages the offender to admit that shoplifting is a crime and to consider the realistic consequences of additional shoplifting.

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 28, No. 1, 53-64 (1984)
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X8402800107


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