Why do people steal

They may steal out of greed when they already have plenty. Method 3. Involve the authorities. If you have had something stolen from you, the first logical step is to report the theft to the police.

Give your local police as much detail as you can to help them identify the stolen property and any potential suspects. Taking action right away is your best chance for recovering the stolen items and capturing the thief. Reestablish safety as soon as possible. Repair any damages that were done to your home. Alert your neighbors and verify that they are taking precautions to protect themselves. You can develop best practices for securing valuables and decide on a place for children to hide if a burglar gets in the house.

Try to follow your normal routine. Although it may be difficult to go about your life as usual, you must. Take care of yourself.

Experiencing a theft can cause a great deal of stress in your life. Try to get adequate sleep each night. Eat well-balanced meals and exercise to increase your strength and emotional well-being. If you nurture your mind and body during this time, you can more easily move beyond the negative feelings you are experiencing.

Lean on your support system. Turn to neighbors, family, friends, and your local community to recover from a theft. Be honest if there is something someone can help you do to feel more safe and secure in your home or community. We'll be out of town Friday and Saturday and I've been uneasy since the break-in.

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Watch what kind of people you hang out with. Hanging out with people that you don't really trust could lead to getting your belongings stolen. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1. Be kind to yourself — a lot of thefts aren't personally attacking you, they are just an act of convenience, no matter whose home it was. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. If it was too easy for them to break in, try to make your house more secure.

Helpful 9 Not Helpful 5. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References 6. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Paul Chernyak, LPC. Co-authors: Updated: September 15, Categories: Psychological Disorders Theft. Article Summary X There are a lot of reasons why people steal. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. More reader stories Hide reader stories. Did this article help you? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy.

Flying Amplitude Jun 8. Our mental image of the criminal is shaped by what we see on the news, TV dramas and by direct observation in our own communities. Embezzlers will never fit this stereotype; many of them remind me of Sunday school teachers which, in fact, some of them are. The explanation for why embezzlers do not fit the preconception is simple — you would never hire someone who looks your image of a criminal.

Criminologist Donald Cressey probably had the greatest influence on the development of our current understanding of economic crime. Cressey theorized that there were three necessary preconditions for fraud — Pressure, Opportunity, and Rationalization.

Needy embezzlers steal to address a financial need; some event has created a financial imbalance where more money is being spent by their household than what is being earned, and this deficiency has threatened their ability to keep themselves afloat.

They steal to fund necessities like rent and mortgage payments. There are many possible triggering events. Some common ones are divorce, a spouse losing his or her job or an addiction of some kind. In many cases, they feel that society represented by you, their employer has failed to recognize the true value of their talents, and they steal to address this perceived inequity and to prove how truly smart they are.

They may, perhaps even with justification, look at you as an intellectual peer. They conveniently forget the outlay you made to acquire your education and the financial and emotional burdens of practice ownership, and in their simplified worldview it seems unfair that you earn ten or twenty time what they do. Most of your staff, including any embezzlers you might be harboring, chronically overestimate what you take home.

If most physician staff members had that kind of lotto winning, they would probably quit their job, and on the way out the door would tell the doctor what they really thought of him or her. This embezzler did not quit her job; she kept working.

She also continued stealing and here is the interesting part. After her big win the amount she was stealing monthly increased. Since she clearly did not need the money that she was stealing, at that point her stealing was to address an emotional deficit and not a financial one.

One of the differentiating characteristics of Greedy thieves is how they spend their money. Right before each foray, she would be as tense as a smoker with a three-pack-a-day habit on a cross-country airplane flight.

During the shoplifting, she would experience what she says was like a chemical high: fast heart rate, heavy breathing, sweating. It's more like this feeling of triumph while running a marathon. But it doesn't last very long. And I'd be so disgusted with myself, with this car trunk full of stuff, that I'd either quickly give it away to friends or find someplace to dump it in the trash.

Over those years, Samson was caught six times and, for the most part, let go with a warning. Once she was sentenced to two weeks of counseling, but since there was no special program in her area for kleptomaniacs, she was placed in an alcohol rehabilitation clinic. Next: Her lowest moment. One particularly painful moment came several years ago when her habit kept her from accepting an award. The police department wanted to recognize her for her efforts.

I wanted to spare myself any more embarrassment and shame than I already had. Two years after she started stealing, she'd gone in for counseling. I tried Narcotics Anonymous because I could identify with the craving—but was laughed out of the room and basically told not to return. Everything he said about shoplifters—the depression, the sense of deprivation, the need to "even the score" with a world that had held back so much—spoke to her.

While most mainstream researchers still look at kleptomania as a psychological problem, there's mounting evidence to suggest that the disorder, like other addictive illnesses, involves some kind of chemical imbalance in the brain.

Brown University's Grant believes that behavioral therapy for kleptomania—which might include taking the patient to a store and talking her through her impulse to steal—is helpful, but in most cases doesn't work without medication to reduce the craving. Why we choose one addiction over the other isn't clear. Samson, who takes antidepressants, has not yet considered Grant's approach. But through shopliftersanonymous. For the first time in 15 years, Samson stopped stealing for more than a few days.

In fact, since May 2, she has stolen nothing. Well, next to nothing. And strangely, her food bingeing, which disappeared when she began stealing, is starting to make a comeback.

Even Shulman has had an occasional slipup. Two years ago, blindsided by the stress of having just gotten married and furnishing a home, he pocketed a light-fixture part to fix a lamp. He confessed to his wife, which put a crimp in her trust of him for a while, and told his weekly group. But she can learn to overcome the stealing.

More on Secrets and Confessions You guide to confessing your darkest secrets The secrets you're not telling yourself When you should and shouldn't confess. Subscribe to the live your best life newsletter Sign up for the oprah.