In lieu of gender roles, it is pretty common for us to associate shoplifting with women rather than men. Yet, this gender stereotype is completely inaccurate. In 2008, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a report that proved men shoplifted more than women. So if we know that both sexes are just as guilty as the other, the next logical question to ask ourselves is why are we stealing in the first place. Yet, like most things in psychology, there isn't any sort of concrete theory...
I discovered a fairly recent New York Times article that delved deeper into explaining the causes behind shoplifting. From what I gathered, the article tells us that not everyone who shoplifts does so because they can't afford it. In fact, the author claims that through his research, both men and women steal goods that reflect "embarrassing insights into their deepest wounds and desires." The article cites examples of a successful women in the I.T. field with a disordered family. This particular woman had a tendency to steal household goods like "hand towels, sage, lavender, etc." The other example in the article was a divorced flight attendant who allegedly stole a heavy doorstop in hopes that it would "anchor" her in place.
To make things even more interesting, some shoplifters used their stolen goods as a way to develop a more altruistic persona by giving (stolen) gifts. In a way, these ironic altruism sheds light on the plethora of emotions at play. Secondly, men and women stole different goods. It seems obvious but men stole power tools, TVs, appliances, etc. Whereas women stole perfumes, clothes, groceries and similar products. Here we see a trend of genders buying somewhat gender specific products.
In the end, the author says that the men saw the act of stealing as a thrill -- like being the hero in the movie. Also, men were often to see shoplifting as a crime that could transition into larger, more profitable crimes. Inversely, women tended to only shoplift and not move onto bigger crimes. That is, until they became married.
To tie things together, in Chapter 11, we learned about motivation - the psychological drive that propels us in a specific direction. As our book explains, incentive theories say that we're motivated by positive goals. So in the case of shoplifting even though the act itself is considered negative, the reward may be more positive than the risk.
Yet, it seems as if there is a lot we still don't understand why people shoplift. Perhaps it is to become more generous, maybe to find something we are longing for, or maybe it is simply the thrill of the chase. The author ends on a note by saying "I believe that it may be more poetic than scientific, that behind a seemingly simple, petty crime, lurks a mysterious world of hidden desires and obscure longings." But I'd like to think the urge to steal can be explained scientifically. Regardless, I believe a more scientific study could be conducted where convicted shoplifters were asked why they stole the things they did. But given the ambiguity of the question, formulating a solid scientific theory may be difficult.
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