CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPLIFTER:

Understanding the Minds of Shoplifters & How to Effectively Help

Them
PSYCHOLOGY APPLICATION PROJECT

LOSS-REACTIVE

ROSARY ANN O. NADONZA DEPRESSED

EDSON COLLEGE OF NURSING AND HEALTH INNOVATION – ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

PSY101 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY HOBBYIST
DR. CARRIE LLOYD ADDICTIVE-COMPULSIVE
JUNE 25, 2023
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

IMPULSIVE
INTRODUCTION

 SHOPLIFTING

 AKA RETAIL THEFT

 UNAUTHORIZED REMOVAL OF MERCHANDISE FROM A STORE WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT, OR

INTENTIONALLY PAYING LESS FOR AN ITEM THAN ITS SALE PRICE (WEX DEFINITIONS TEAM, 2022).

* The discussion/presentation will be mainly about the shoplifter/offender as an individual rather than
about organized retail theft which involves a criminal enterprise with multiple levels. Organized retail
theft requires another in-depth discussion/presentation that will not be covered here.
INTRODUCTION

$94.5 BILLION $84.9 BILLION $3.96 BILLION $1,180

RETAILERS’ FRAUDULENT LOST STATE AVERAGE FELONY
GROSS REVENUE SALES RETURN TAX DOLLARS THRESHOLD FOR
LOSS IN 2021 IN 2021 DUE TO THEFT THEFT

Source: Capital One Shopping, 2023.

PROBLEM

 THE GROWING & EXPENSIVE PROBLEM OF SHOPLIFTING IN SAN FRANCISCO (AND OTHER STATES).

 How did shoplifting worsen through the years?

 Why do people engage in shoplifting?

 What has been or is going on in the lives of people who engage in shoplifting?
PROBLEM

9% of the US population 25% of shoplifters 75% of shoplifters 50% claim drug addiction or
have shoplifted are children are adults alcoholism as a main factor

Source: Capital One Shopping, 2023.

PYSCHOLOGICAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM

I. IN THE STUDY DONE BY NADEAU, ROCHLEN, & TYMINSKI (2019): INDIVIDUALS WHO ENGAGE IN
SHOPLIFTING WERE CLASSIFIED BASED ON SHOPLIFTING BEHAVIORS, MOTIVATIONS, MENTAL
HEALTH, ETHICAL ATTITUDES, PERSONAL HISTORIES AND LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES:
• 28%; generally law-abiding but with high incidence of lifetime losses and trauma
LOSS-REACTIVE
• 20%; highly impulsive individuals with little self-control but has the most ability to pay for stolen items
IMPULSIVE
• 18%; experienced acute depression and shoplifts as a coping mechanism but has the strongest
DEPRESSED traditional ethical values and lowest desire to shoplift

• 18%; have the highest presence of meaning in life, psychological functioning and well-being but
HOBBYIST shoplifts for enjoyment

• 9%; highest sense of addictiveness, compulsiveness, impulsivity, thrill-seeking, opportunism, urge to

ADDICTIVE-COMPULSIVE shoplift and collect things

• 7%; had shoplifted more than any other type and have the highest degree of anger, life stress, life
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED stressors and trauma history
PYSCHOLOGICAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM

II. IN THE STUDY DONE BY BAI, WU, & CHEUNG (2019): INVESTIGATED THE ROLE OF SHOPLIFTING
INTENTION AMONG DIFFERENT CONSUMERS’ PERSONALITY TRAITS & THEIR SHOPLIFTING
BEHAVIORS AS DRAWN FROM THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR (TPB).
Personality Traits Materialism – belief that possessions are the key to happiness &
INFLUENCE success can be judged by material wealth
shoplifting behavior via shoplifting intention
THEORY OF PLANNED Sensation Seeking – search for thrills & adventures, & the
readiness to take any form of risks for the sake of such experiences
BEHAVIOR
Cognitive theory Consumer Alienation – consumer’s perceived powerlessness,
developed by Icek Ajzen normlessness, social isolation & self-estrangement within the
marketplace
(1985) posits that a
person’s behavior or Moderating Roles Employee Incompetence POSITIVELY AFFECTS shoplifting intention
action is grounded on an & behavior (i.e. shoplifting intentions are more likely to be carried
out in the presence of incompetent employees )
intention to engage in
such behavior or action
Consumer Similarity NEGATIVELY AFFECTS shoplifting intention &
behavior (i.e. the more an individual closely identifies or associates
with other customers, the less likely that shoplifting intention will
be carried out)
PYSCHOLOGICAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM

III. IN THE STUDY DONE BY VERMEIR, DE BOCK, & VAN KENHOVE (2017): DREW ON THE PROTECTION
MOTIVATION THEORY & FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NORM-BASED APPEALS VS
ECONOMIC SANCTION APPEALS & THE INTERACTION BETWEEN VULNERABILITY & SEVERITY IN
PREVENTING SHOPLIFTING AMONG ADOLESCENTS.

PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY

SOCIAL DISAPPROVAL MESSAGES LARGE FINES:

are more efficient in reducing needed regardless of the chance
shoplifting intentions among of getting caught for shoplifting
adolescents than fines

HIGH VULNERABILITY: LOW VULNERABILITY:

decrease in shoplifting intentions severe form of social disapproval
regardless of severity of social in order to reduce shoplifting
disapproval
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

DECREASE IN
STRENGTHENING SHOPLIFTING
CREATION &
THE MENTAL CASES, RECOVERY
ENFORCEMENT OF
HEALTH PROGRAM OF BUSINESSES
STRICTER LAWS ON
TO HELP FROM ECONOMIC
SHOPLIFTING
OFFENDERS LOSS & SAFER
ENVIRONMENT
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

I. CREATION & ENFORCEMENT OF STRICTER LAWS ON SHOPLIFTING

 IN THE STUDY DONE BY COOK & MAY (2019): AFTER THE PASSAGE OF MISSISSIPPI’S HOUSE BILL

585 wherein misdemeanors for 1st and 2nd offense increased up to $1000 (previously up to $500
only) and 3rd and subsequent offenses increased up to $500 (previously charged as a felony):
SHOPLIFTING CASES INCREASED & INDIVIDUALS WITH PRIOR ARRESTS WERE
INVOLVED IN SUBSEQUENT SHOPLIFTING INCIDENTS.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

I. CREATION & ENFORCEMENT OF STRICTER LAWS ON SHOPLIFTING

 Basing on the Protection Motivation Theory: an individual with the intention to

shoplift will get discouraged or think twice if there are very strict (rather than
lenient) laws with larger fines and felony charges.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

I. CREATION & ENFORCEMENT OF STRICTER LAWS ON SHOPLIFTING

 TOM R. TYLER, a Macklin Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, in his

book “Why People Obey the Law” (2006) discusses that:

 People obey the law because people believe in respecting legitimate authority and not

because of fear punishment.

 Lawmakers and law enforcers should make legal systems worthy of respect.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

I. CREATION & ENFORCEMENT OF STRICTER LAWS ON SHOPLIFTING

 This supports the proposed solution that when there is a trustworthy and

respectable law and justice system capable of strictly enforcing the laws,
people will generally obey and abide by said laws (specifically pertaining
to shoplifting laws).
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

II. STRENGTHENING THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM TO HELP OFFENDERS

Basing on the first two articles previously presented:

 There are different personality traits among offenders: loss-reactive, impulsive, depressed,

hobbyist, addictive-compulsive, economically disadvantaged, materialism, sensation seeking &

consumer alienation.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

II. STRENGTHENING THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM TO HELP OFFENDERS

 Each trait corresponds to a unique offender (i.e. profile description) needing INDIVIDUALIZED &

TARGETED help, counseling and/or treatment that should be READILY AVAILABLE AND
ACCESSIBLE if there is a strong mental health program in the health & justice systems.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

Psychodynamic Humanistic Interpersonal

ECT Therapy Psychosurgery
Therapy Therapy Therapy

Behavioral
Cognitive Group
Treatment Drug Therapy
Approaches Therapy
Approaches
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS + PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

II. STRENGTHENING THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM TO HELP OFFENDERS

 Mental health promotion and prevention interventions will address the CORE OF THE

SHOPLIFTING PROBLEM which is the SHOPLIFTER / OFFENDER experiencing mental health

concerns.
REFERENCES:

Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhi & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action-control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11-39). Heidelberg:
Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2
Bai, Y., Wu, W., & Cheung, M. (2019). How personality traits, employee incompetence and consumer similarity influence shoplifting behavior. The Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 36(3), 379-392. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-06-2018-2718
Capital One Shopping. (2023). Retail theft (shoplifting) statistics. https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/shoplifting-statistics/

Cook, A., & May, David, C. (2019). It’s just shoplifting (or is it?): Examining court processing of shoplifting before and after the passage of mississipi house bill 585. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law &

Society, 20(2), 86-108. https://doi.org/10.21202/1993-047x.14.2020.3.571-597

Nadeau, M. M., Rochlen, A. B., & Tyminski, R. (2019). The psychology of shoplifting: Development of a new typology for repeated shoplifting. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative
Criminology, 63(13), 2338–2355. https://doiorg.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/10.1177/0306624X19845979
Tyler, T. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton University Press. 10.1515/9781400828609
Vermeir, I., De Bock, T., Van Kenhove, P. (2017). The effectiveness of fear appeals featuring fines versus social disapproval in preventing shoplifting among adolescents. Psychology & Marketing, 34(3),
264-274. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20987
Wex Definitions Team. (2022). Shoplifting. Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/shoplifting