Is Shoplifting Harmless?

By Nigel Tomes

“Thou shalt not steal” says the eighth commandment. Yet 10% of American adults and a whopping 40% of teenagers admit to shoplifting—stealing everything from cosmetics & clothes to electronics from stores & shops. Shoplifting breaks the eighth command, but it also violates the tenth since invariably theft’s accomplice is coveting—the unbridled desire to possess what is not yours. But many people today reject these tenets as “old-fashioned notions;” in today’s post-modern society, they claim to know better.

Shoplifting—a Victimless Crime?

People excuse shoplifting as a harmless, non-violent, & victimless crime perpetrated, not against individuals, but against impersonal chain stores & corporations. Yet shoplifting is far from “victimless.” Everyone is a victim. “Shrinkage” (loss due to fraud, theft, etc.) accounts for 1.56% of US retail sales. It cost the US retail industry $37.14 billion in 2010. Stores hike their prices to recoup these losses. It acts like a tax; the average American spends an extra $423 per year on “crime-taxed” products. Canadian figures are probably proportional. Add to that the costs of robbery prevention, monitoring and enforcement and the costs are staggering. We all pay those costs which would be unnecessary if everyone’s behavior was governed by God’s standard. This reminds us that mankind’s fall has produced a situation far inferior to the world God created in the past and to the future kingdom He will inaugurate.

The Rich Shoplift More Than the Poor

The historic stereotypes elicit sympathy—a starving child pilfers a loaf of bread, a penniless mother steals medicine for her baby. Yet the present-day reality is strikingly different. It’s not life’s necessities like a loaf of bread or medicine which are being stolen. Women typically steal cosmetics, while men steal electronics, says Rachel Shteir, in her book, The Steal.

The rich shoplift more than the poor. An American Journal of Psychology study found that Americans with incomes over $70,000 shoplift 30% more than those earning under $20,000 a year. Rich celebrities being caught red-handed in the act of stealing have become a regular occurrence.

Other data support the thesis that the rich shoplift more. If the poor steal more, when the economy improves, you’d expect shoplifting to decrease; as things got better, people would have less incentive to steal. Yet (contrary to that notion) the US National Retail Federation reported that “shrinkage” (due to shoplifting, etc) actually rose from 2009 to 2010, as the US economy improved. In dollar terms, shrinkage cost U.S. retailers $37.1 billion in 2010, versus $33.5 billion in 2009, a 10.7% jump in cost.

Shoplifting is a “growth industry”

The finding that the rich shoplift more implies that this problem isn’t going away; shoplifting is not headed for extinction as incomes rise. It’s another sign that human society does not naturally gravitate towards Utopia. On the contrary, the Bible says lawlessness will increase. In the US shoplifting is a “growth industry.” In New York City the number of people charged with shoplifting over $1,000 jumped from 14,000 in 2002 to 36,000 in 2010. That’s a 2.6-fold increase over eight years, a growth rate of 12% p.a. Canadian data don’t allow us to dismiss this as “just a US problem.” It’s a Canadian problem too.

“People shoplift to transform themselves”

So why do people steal, if it’s not about the money? In North America they aren’t stealing to put food on the kitchen table. “People shoplift to transform themselves, to try & make themselves into some idealized version. We’re trying to fashion ourselves into these…stereotypes,” says Shteir. “So women are shoplifting cosmetics to make themselves beautiful & men are shoplifting tough He-Man types of things.” Yet it’s ultimately futile and fraught with risk.

Compulsive shoplifting—an “Addiction”

Some people shoplift just for the thrill; they get a “rush” from the act of stealing. One female shoplifter likened the euphoria to that of drugs, except it only lasts a few minutes—“Then you’re back to yourself again. In your mind, you think, ‘It was all for a stupid blouse, or stupid soap. For this, I risked everything’.” For such people it’s a self-destructive paradox. Seconds before being arrested, one women quizzed herself: “All I need…is one crummy formal dress, so why is there a blue silk jacket (one I don’t particularly like) hidden in my camera bag?” In a movie a shoplifter, viewing his spoils, confesses “I didn’t need it. I didn’t even like it.” The objects lose their intrinsic value once they’ve been stolen. The shoplifter needs another theft to get high again. They’ve become an addict. But (contrary to what some psychologists suggest) labeling compulsive shoplifting as an addiction, doesn’t excuse it. The knowledge that shoplifting could be addictive (like drugs or gambling) ought to deter people from engaging in it from the outset. Let the first-time shoplifter beware!