The Apprehension Alone Will Not Stop a Repeat Offense 

The vast majority of the non-professional shoplifting offenders we encounter, educate and survey each year through the court system are, for the most part, otherwise law-abiding citizens who know that shoplifting is wrong and know there are consequences to stealing yet chose to shoplift anyway.  So it stands to reason that the trauma of apprehension would be enough to prevent another offense, right?

Unfortunately, wrong. When asked “Why did you do it if you knew it was wrong?” the most frequent reply is “I don’t know” or more disturbingly “It’s no big deal” and “Everyone does it” – indicating a lack of awareness and understanding about the crime as it relates to themselves, the victim or the community. The problem is that consumer shoplifters fail to make a connection between their shoplifting and its impact on themselves, the store they victimized and the community.

There is so much that shoplifters fail to understand:

• They don’t know why they do it.
• They don’t think anyone really gets hurt.
• They think the stores can afford the losses.
• They don’t understand the consequences to themselves and their future.
• They don’t know how to handle temptation when they want nice things in a store, or feel pressured by friends or are mad at the world and want to strike back.
• They think they won’t get caught.
• They don’t understand that the stores and the people who are employed by the stores are their victims.
• They don’t understand their civil responsibility to the store as their victim.

In fact, 80% of shoplifters believe that consumer shoplifting in general would be reduced if people understood the impact of the crime on youth, families and communities.

Research and recidivism studies have shown over and over again that the most effective way to stop non-professional, consumer shoplifters (especially juvenile offenders) is to ensure the offender has the tools to examine their behavior, identify and re-evaluate the attitudes, thoughts and misconceptions which led them to shoplifting and define their personal risks for repeating the offense. It is only once this is done that they finally decide that shoplifting is not right for them or their future.

Read the latest recidivism study which was conducted in Seattle, WA by the King County Partnership for Youth Justice. The 4-year study that found NASP’s Youth Educational Shoplifting Program (Y.E.S. Program) is not only an "extraordinarily effective intervention" for reducing shoplifting but that it is effective in "reducing criminal behavior in general."