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People who shoplift

Aspergers_Aspie

Well-Known Member
Not all shoplifters steal out of greed. Some steal to survive. A couple of nights ago I was watching a TV documentary where someone said they eat out of bins sometimes. The TV show had the very sad statistic that it's estimated one in three shoplifters steal to survive.
 
Motive does not change the fact that they are wronging someone else in the process.
Items stolen are at the expense of someone else's livelihood.
If it happens enough, they are taking groceries off of someone else's table.
 
Motive does not change the fact that they are wronging someone else in the process.
Items stolen are at the expense of someone else's livelihood.
If it happens enough, they are taking groceries off of someone else's table.

Can you explain more how that works? I imagine people are stealing from a company, a corporation. It lowers their profit margins, sure, but how does it have other effects?
 
Can you explain more how that works? I imagine people are stealing from a company, a corporation. It lowers their profit margins, sure, but how does it have other effects?
Stealing from small businesses is a different story. I know a lot of people are having financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but this includes small business owners. Many of those (where I live) are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Shoplifting from them could cause their businesses to fold.

Shoplifting from larger companies isn’t directly affecting people, but if shoplifting caused them to operate at a loss, they will jack up prices, affecting other customers who, in turn, might not be able to afford products at a higher price.
 
Rationales for theft will vary greatly depending on the locale.

Where I am, the overwhelming majority (likely >90%) of petty crime is drug / substance abuse related, for which there is sometimes an underlying mental health concern.
 
My local supermarket (part of a bigger chain) has removed most of its luxury assortment from the shelves because of shoplifting. Which isn’t terrible for me on a daily basis, but if I want to buy some upscale items I go to a different supermarket a longer distance from my home (in a better neighborhood) and buy all my groceries there. Which means the place that removed the luxury items isn’t getting any of my money.
 
We live in a society where there are not equal opportunities and where some can have what they want because they are born to wealth, whereas others aren't. Why is it OK? Well, because that's how it is, apparently. If I was a parent in poverty who stole nice foods for my family, aren't I a Robin Hood of sorts?

Why are nice foods only for well off people, and not the children of the very poor? I'm more bothered by inequalities than people shoplifting, unless they are doing it in extreme ways or are being organised and manipulated by someone.
 
I can't be certain but people on the street may be likely to shoplift more, those who feel it's less dangerous than a homeless b and b or hostel that's had history of unprovoked attacks
 
There is a local grocery store chain in my area called "Stop&Shop" it's relatively popular in the New England are.
It's often called by the younger locals " Stop & Shoplift" LOL:)
 
If you see someone taking baby supplies, no you didn't.

We are looking at a Now where $50 is the new $20, feels like, in terms of purchasing power. Some people are dissipated enough to steal for fun but it might be the case that a lot of people will end up having to steal to stay fed.
 
If you see someone taking baby supplies, no you didn't.

We are looking at a Now where $50 is the new $20, feels like, in terms of purchasing power. Some people are dissipated enough to steal for fun but it might be the case that a lot of people will end up having to steal to stay fed.

But the more people steal, the more you have to pay for groceries and things you need. Nothing is free, someone always have to pay for it. So if you think it's expensive now, people stealing will make it even more expensive, the stores make up for the loss by making the consumers pay more.
 
But the more people steal, the more you have to pay for groceries and things you need. Nothing is free, someone always have to pay for it. So if you think it's expensive now, people stealing will make it even more expensive, the stores make up for the loss by making the consumers pay more.

I agree the system is failing but I don't think starvation for the poorest is worth it to protect the poor Bottom Line.

Course it's not helping. But neither is the meteoric rise of CEO salaries.
 
Just wanted to point out an 'estimate' can really vary in accuracy. One in three shoplift to survive sounds questionable to me. I'd have to see how they came up with that figure. I did look around a bit and couldn't find any support for that statistic, or any place where they break it down in that fashion.

The best of the sites on the subject I found is: https://recfaces.com/articles/shoplifting-statistics
 
Here's the thing with shoplifting- it creates food deserts.

Enough people shoplift from a big corporate grocery store, and the store shuts down, leaving hundreds without work, and thousands without a nearby source of food, clothing, and hardware.

It ruins a community.

it's very easy, with several little daily thefts, for a store to lose a million dollars in a year.
 
Can you explain more how that works? I imagine people are stealing from a company, a corporation. It lowers their profit margins, sure, but how does it have other effects?

There are too many effects to enumerate. Here are a few possibilities:

1) The company absorbs the loss. Theft continues until the company cannot absorb the loss and another option is selected.
2) The company goes out of business and everyone local must spend more travel time and travel money to go somewhere else. This creates a "food desert" that @Yeshuasdaughter mentioned.
3) The company reduces prices by lowering wages, essentially charging the employees for the shoplifter.
4) The company reduces expenses by reducing inventory, quality, maintenance, safety, etc. In the long term, any corner-cutting measures lead to a downward spiral of ever-reducing quality until the company goes bankrupt, and option 2 is the result.
5) The company increases security - this incurs additional expenses which lower the profit margin. Ideally, this lowers the profit margin less than the theft, but it is still an extra burden which can lead to other cost-saving measures, as iterated above.

Everything has an effect and nothing is free - the expense will be paid by someone, somewhere.

Ideally, no one would have to steal. Financial literacy, a living wage, and reasonable prices should be the norm. Of these, I think the most critical one right now is guaranteeing a living wage.
 
Watching a show where the lady had a compulsive addiction to shoplift. Apparently she had prior drug addiction issues. So the dx was she had an addictive personality. Some do it for the thrill, some do it to get caught and get help, some do it for basis of survival whether it's to feed themselves or someone else or to support their drug habit and/or.

I really don't want to punish children who steal to eat.
 
Watching a show where the lady had a compulsive addiction to shoplift. Apparently she had prior drug addiction issues. So the dx was she had an addictive personality.

Sounds like addiction transfer - when a person's favorite addiction is taken away and they don't deal with the underlying causes of the addiction, they turn to something else.
 

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