SHOPLIFTING FACTS
Compulsive Shoplifting is a problem that affects millions of people, men and women of all ages and from all walks of life.
The good news.....
Most of these shoplifters
can be helped to STOP!
According to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) losses due to thefts from retail stores alone amount to over 35 million dollars a day!
35 Million a Day!!!!
Shoplifting is one of the most common crimes.
NASP estimates that there are over 27 million shoplifters (or 1 in 11 people) in our nation today. More than 10 million people have been caught shoplifting in the last five years.
More Shoplifting Statistics
More than $13 billion worth of goods are stolen
from retailers each year.
Shoplifting affects more than the offender. It overburdens the police and the courts, adds to a store's security expenses, costs consumers more for goods, costs communities lost dollars in sales taxes
and hurts children and families.
Shoplifters steal from all types of stores including department stores, specialty shops, supermarkets, drug stores, discounters, music stores, convenience stores and thrift shops.
There is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Men and women shoplift about equally as often.
Approximately 25 percent of shoplifters are kids, 75 percent are adults. 55 percent of adult shoplifters say they started shoplifting in their teens.
Many shoplifters buy and steal merchandise in the same visit. Shoplifters commonly steal from $2 to $200 per incident depending upon the type of store and item(s) chosen.
Shoplifting is often not a premeditated crime. 73 percent of adult and 72 percent of juvenile shoplifters don't plan to steal in advance.
89 percent of kids say they know other kids who shoplift. 66 percent say they hang out with those kids.
Shoplifters say they are caught an average of only once in every 48 times they steal. They are turned over to the police 50 percent of the time.
Approximately 3 percent of shoplifters are "professionals" who steal solely for resale or profit as a business. These include drug addicts who steal to feed their habit, hardened professionals who steal as a life-style and international shoplifting gangs who steal for profit as a business. "Professional" shoplifters are responsible for 10 percent of the total dollar losses.
The vast majority of shoplifters are "non-professionals" who steal, not out of criminal intent, financial need or greed but as a response to social and personal pressures in their life.
The excitement generated from "getting away with it" produces a chemical reaction resulting in what shoplifters describe as an incredible "rush" or "high" feeling. Many shoplifters will tell you that this high is their "true reward", rather than the merchandise itself.
Drug addicts, who have become addicted to shoplifting, describe shoplifting as equally addicting as drugs.
57 percent of adults and 33 percent of juveniles say it is hard for them to stop shoplifting even after getting caught.
Most non-professional shoplifters don't commit other types of crimes. They'll never steal an ashtray from your house and will return to you a $20 bill you may have dropped. Their criminal activity is restricted to shoplifting and therefore, any program should be "offense-specific" for this crime.
Habitual shoplifters steal an average of 1.6 times per week.
Most shoplifters who have developed a habit or addiction believe they should be punished according to the law when caught. What offenders often resent, however, is when they are simply thrown into jail with hardened career criminals and are not given the help or support they need to help prevent them from repeating the offense.
(Information and statistics provided by
the National Association for Shoplifting (NASP), a non-profit organization)
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A recent article states that the Loss Prevention Division of Walmart experiences 1 million shoplifting incidents per year. A Corporate Executive Officer with Walmart Corporation believes that shoplifting is one of the biggest enemies of profitability in the retail business costing taxpayers 77 million dollars annually.
Why do some generally honest people steal?
Will Cupchik, a Toronto psychologist, points out that it's not just shoplifters who need clarity about the root cause of their crime. Some clinicians "and many lawyers," he says, confuse shoplifting with kleptomania - a mental illness that's technically an impulse-control disorder.
Kleptomania as defined in the psychiatric handbooks...."a recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or their monetary value."
Marcus Goldman, M.D., a Massachusetts psychiatrist wrote his book "Kleptomania" in 1997. He states, "Almost never does a patient come in complaining of this disorder. It's a very secretive thing, like bulimia. It's more common that after a few months of treatment, a patient will say, "By the way, I steal."
True Kleptomania has traditionally been viewed as a very rare condition!
Kleptomaniacs have no true psychological motivation whereas compulsive shoplifters are trying to fill some sort of emotional void.
"I have spoken with many licensed therapists and have presented my views to lawyers The public needs to become educated about shoplifting. There is a widely held belief that compulsive shoplifting isn't a serious problem. Shoplifting IS a serious problem! Sadly, sooner or later a shoplifter is going to wind up in the criminal justice system. Some people don't get caught for a while, so they end up getting themselves into some very compromising behavior. And when that happens and they eventually get caught, they're going to go through the system in a really big way.
The phenomenon is called
"Loss Substitution By Stealing,"
a now widely accepted hypothesis that Cupchik first published in The Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law in 1983.
Shoplifting is the fastest-growing form of
larceny in the country, the F.B.I. reports, increasing at an annual rate of 20 percent.
It is also the nation's most expensive crime, accounting for more than 16 billion in monetary losses each year - a cost that is ultimately passed on to consumers through higher-priced goods.
Why do people shoplift?
And, what can be done to prevent
them from doing it again and again?
There are shoplifters too numerous to count in the United States, some of whom need and can't afford to buy what they steal, some of whom can afford it and steal for various emotional reasons, and some of whom have what is finally
recognized as a shoplifting addiction.
and agencies where there was absolutely
no understanding that compulsive shoplifting
is an addiction."
...Coach Scott
Society accepts that people struggle with drugs and alcohol but more often then not even some health professionals do not understand how compulsive behaviors such as shoplifting, gambling, over eating, over spending, etc. can be linked to other psychological problems.
Compulsive shoplifters are no different then the same way that alcoholics abuse alcohol and overeaters abuse food!
But with shoplifting....why such a secret?
There is much shame and guilt involved...no one wants to talk about it much less admit that they have a shoplifting problem!
Shoplifters often get "labeled" as low life, failures, street scum and bad people.
These beliefs are rarely true but unfortunately for the shoplifter these labels
most often end up re-enforcing their
destructive behaviors.
COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE SHOPLIFT - STEAL...
To express feelings of anger,
revenge, or entitlement
To fill a sense of emptiness
due to grief or loss
To try to make life seem fair
As a thrill or high to escape problems, numb feelings, or ease depression
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DIFFERING TYPES OF SHOPLIFTERS
Terrence Shulman, Founder/director, of
The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft & Spending, divides shoplifters into
seven (7) distinct groups, each with certain identifiable characteristics and expected responses if they are caught. The percentage that follows is an estimate as to the percentage of the total shoplifting population that the particular group comprises.
ADDICTIVE-COMPULSIVE SHOPLIFTERS: 75%
This group emotionally has a lot of repressed anger and often exhibits signs of other compulsive addictions, such as overeating, shopping, drug use, or gambling. These people often give to others and don't take care of themselves. Typically, they will steal items that are often inexpensive, and then give them to others as gifts. If caught, they will show guilt, shame, or remorse. Often, they will breakdown and cry when caught and confronted.
PROFESSIONALS, WHO STEAL FOR
PROFIT OR LIFESTYLE: 5%
Professionals will try to steal high-end, expensive items, often stealing multiple items at one time. Many carry tools and utensils on them to assist with the theft. Most likely, this group will resist arrest if confronted and will attempt to flee the store. If caught and detained, they will remain cool and calm, showing no remorse or emotion.
THE IMPOVERISHED, WHO STEAL
OUT OF ECONOMIC NEED: 5%
Typically, they will steal necessities, like food, diapers, toiletries, or children's clothing. Often, their manner of dress and hygiene may be poor. If caught, they will usually show remorse, but state their frustration with their lack of money, and may voice hostility against a "System" that keeps them impoverished.
THE THRILL SEEKERS, WHO STEAL ON
A DARE OR FOR EXCITEMENT: 5%
These shoplifters will often steal in groups. Many teenagers fall into this category.
DRUG AND GAMBLING ADDICTS, WHO STEAL
TO PAY FOR THEIR HABIT: 5%
Like Professionals, they prefer stealing expensive, high end items, usually multiple items at a time.
Their appearance often shows signs of substance abuse. They often carry drugs or drug paraphernalia on themselves. They are usually less careful than the Professional, but will likely show no remorse
and will flee the store if confronted.
KLEPTOMANIACS ARE THOSE WHO
STEAL FOR NO REASON: 1%
Kleptomaniacs are impulsive and often careless. They will often take items they don't need and can't use, like stealing shoes that don't fit. If caught, many will admit they are kleptomaniacs and do not feel much remorse or shame. They will often use common excuses, like
"I don't remember taking it", or "I don't know why I took it because I don't even need it."
THE ABSENT MINDED: 1%
People in a hurry, elderly people, people on medications or those who would have cognitive or memory issues.
* * *
What About Celebrities and
Affluent People..
Why Do They Shoplift?
Many people think that celebrity or affluent shoplifting merely springs from an out-of-control sense of entitlement, says Norman Sussman, a psychiatrist at New York University Medical Center. But there's a difference between "grandiosity," he points out, and "the truly addicted and compulsive, who generally have real issues with their own identities."
He suggests that the mutability of some performers' personas might make them especially prone to dealing with stress or depression through dysfunctional coping mechanisms like shoplifting. "A lot of people who are good actors," (including those that are not professional actors but are not living authentically) Sussman says, "are good at what they do because they have a poorly defined sense of who they really are, so they're able to assume the identities of someone else."
Shoplifting is a type of role-play: it involves living the life, albeit momentarily, of the cunning and discerning thief, the invincible risk-taker
who triumphs over clueless store clerks.
* * *
IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH A SHOPLIFTING ADDICTION OR ANY OTHER COMPULSIVE ADDICTIVE - DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR.....
PLEASE, GET SOME HELP!
CONTACT COACH SCOTT NOW!
248-767-2482
SCOTT@COMPULSIVENOMORESTOP.COM
* * *
ARE YOU YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY?
TIME TO STOP!
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