Kleptomaniac confessions
Have you ever been driven to steal a piece of gum from the store and gave up? Then you are likely training to become an addictive kleptomaniac or shoplifter. Don’t despair, you are not alone. It is not a threat. And there is a way out.
True kleptomania is viewed by regular psychologists as a very rare condition. Laypersons often mistake it for a recurring inability to resist obsessive, addictive, or compulsive thoughts or urges to steal items that they will often use. Kleptomaniacs will steal without needing the things they steal. They do not feel anger, but neither do they premeditate their actions. On the other hand, shoplifting 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 ways that psychologists cure these diseases is by trying to figure out what the motivating factor of the person involved is and address it. Honest people steal, they say. Not only for shoplifting, but also for embezzlement and fraud.
“A kleptomaniac is someone who steals a lot, but not especially for monetary gain,” says Terry Shulman, who confesses himself as a former shoplifter. He says most compulsive shoplifters are crying out for help. His own story shows that it is quite possible for people to break the habit, once they understand the often complex causes. Where it gets tricky is when stealing has become an addiction. People who are hooked on shoplifting need specialized treatment.
However, due to the ugly truth and seeking help you are already overcoming the biggest hurdle before someone can kick the habit. Many shoplifters who contacted Shulman after he published his book and was interviewed on Oprah later told him that they had come to the end of his ideas on how to tackle the problem. Shulman strenuously refuses to believe that the people who steal are bad, inhuman, or evil. 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 is the author of a book describing a method for treating honest and normal people with shoplifting problem. By stating that he has found the pattern of behavior of ‘untypical shoplifting offenders’, Cupchik provides interesting insights into the minds of shoplifters. It offers treatment courses with certified diplomas for people who have quit for good.
Both Cupchik and Shulman cite cases of high-profile criminals who have lost their jobs due to being caught stealing and analyze events that are elementary to habits. It appears that the factors that motivate people to steal items are largely similar in nature.
“[My story is not] with the intention of making excuses for robbery or shoplifting. I am not suggesting that shoplifters go unpunished. Any illegal act, whether it be illegal gambling, drug offenses or drunk driving, must have legal consequences. “After the publication of his book, people facing this problem created a number of self-help groups around the country. group was his home state Detroit, where in 1992 he founded Cleptomaniacs And Shoplifters Anonymous (CASA) because he wanted to provide a safe, confidential and non-judgmental space for compassion, understanding and recovery from “addictive-compulsive” dishonest behavior, primarily 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] delves deeper than previous stories into the scant literature available on theft or kleptomania. I hope this brings clarity and hope to those who have little of both, “says Shulman.
His website shopliftersanonymous.com cites figures that show how endemic the situation is and how it relates to the economy. Buying in the style of the proletariat actually costs quite considerable sums in terms of dollar value. Retailers lose about $ 25 million a day due to theft. This is the biggest “target zone” for shoplifters; 69% of them steal from department stores; 63% steal from supermarkets; 57% specialized stores; 54% convenience stores; 47% pharmacies and 27% all other type stores.
And, interestingly, shoplifting is the only criminal area in which women are involved at the same level as men; the division 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 of legal age.
Many people who steal in one form or another will have less difficulty moving on to different crimes. According to a 2002 study by Ernst & Young LLP and Ipsos-Reid, companies can lose 20 percent of every dollar earned. “[When you] can justify a type of fraud [you] may 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 the most common form was expense account fraud. Of the 20 percent of the people who knew him, 37 percent even knew about the theft of office supplies. What is perhaps even worse? 16 percent knew employees who claimed to work overtime and 7 percent said they knew people who inflated their expense accounts!
