Have you ever felt compelled to steal a piece of gum from the grocery store and gave in? Then you are probably training yourself to become a kleptomaniac or an addictive compulsive thief. Don’t despair, you are not alone. It is not a threat. And there is a way out.

True kleptomania is viewed by standard practitioners of psychology as a very rare condition. Laypeople often confuse it with recurring failure to resist obsessive, addictive, or compulsive thoughts or urges to steal objects that they will often use. Kleptomaniacs will steal without ever needing the things they steal. They do not feel anger, but neither do they premeditate their actions. Compulsive theft, on the other hand, is inspired by anger and there is also a degree of premeditation involved, because often the stolen items will be useful to the thief.

The way psychologists cure these illnesses is by trying to find out what is the motivating factor of the person involved and address it. Honest people steal, they say. Not only through theft, but also through embezzlement and fraud.

“A kleptomaniac is someone who steals a lot, but not especially for monetary gain,” says Terry Shulman, who is a self-confessed former shoplifter. He says that most people who shoplift compulsively are really crying out for help. His own story shows that it is quite possible for people to outgrow the habit, once a person understands the often complex causes. Where it gets tricky is where stealing has become an addiction. People who get hooked on theft need specialized treatment.

However, due to the ugly truth and seeking help the biggest hurdle is already being overcome before someone can kick the habit. Many thieves who contacted Shulman after he published his book and was interviewed on Oprah later told him that they had reached the end of his ideas on how to address the problem. Shulman steadfastly refuses to believe that people who steal are evil, inhuman, or wicked. He condemns the crime but not the person who commits it and says that stealing is symptomatic of something else in most cases.
This is also the opinion of Will Cupchik, a psychoanalyst who has authored a book that describes a method of treating normal, honest people with a compulsive stealing problem. Claiming that he has found the pattern of behavior of ‘atypical robbery offenders’, Cupchik provides interesting insights into the minds of thieves. He offers treatment courses with certified diplomas for people who have kicked the habit for good.

Both Cupchik and Shulman cite cases of high-profile criminals who have lost their jobs after being caught shoplifting and discuss the events that are elemental to habits. It appears that the factors that motivate people to steal items are largely similar in nature.

“[My story is not] with the intent to make excuses to steal or shoplift. I am not suggesting that shoplifting addicts go unpunished. Any illegal act, whether it be illegal gambling, drug offenses or drunk driving, should have legal consequences,” he says. After the publication of his book, people dealing with this problem created a number of self-help groups across the country. The first one of those groups was his home state of Detroit, where in 1992 he created Cleptomaniacs And Shoplifters Anonymous (CASA) because he wanted to provide a safe, confidential and nonjudgmental space for compassion, understanding and recovery from dishonest behavior.” addictive-compulsive”. , mainly theft, fraud, kleptomania and embezzlement.

“Our stories illustrate how good but vulnerable people try to cope with life at crucial moments and how punishment is not enough to stop thieves. [They] delve deeper than the previous stories in the scarce bibliography available on theft or kleptomania. I hope this brings clarity and hope to those who have little of either,” says Shulman.
His website shopliftersanonymous.com cites figures showing how endemic the situation is and what effects it is having on the economy. Proletarian-style shopping actually costs quite a hefty sum in dollar value terms. Retailers lose an estimated $25 million a day from shoplifting alone. This is the biggest ‘target area’ for thieves; 69% of them shoplift department stores; 63% steal from supermarkets; 57% specialty stores; 54% convenience stores; 47% pharmacies and 27% all kinds of stores.

And, interestingly enough, shoplifting is the only area of ​​crime in which women are involved on a par with men; the split is 50%-50%. It seems that this is also something that people do not give up easily, because the vast majority of the culprits, 75%, are adults.

Many people who steal in one way or another will have less difficulty moving on to different crimes. According to a study by Ernst & Young LLP and Ipsos-Reid in 2002, companies stand to lose 20 percent of every dollar earned. “[When you] can justify a type of fraud [you] can justify another,” said George P. Farragher, an accountant and certified public fraud examiner in Ernst & Young’s Cleveland office, commenting on his firm’s findings.

Twenty percent of the employees cited in that study said they were aware of fraud at their companies and that the most common form was expense account fraud. Of the 20 percent of people who know, 37 percent even knew about office supply theft. What is perhaps even worse; 16 percent knew employees who claimed overtime and 7 percent said they knew people who inflated their expense accounts!