I'm 21 years old. Every few weeks, I'll steal stuff from stores such as Barnes and Noble or Target. I've almost gotten caught twice, and I'm worried I will get caught eventually and face charges.
I don't think I have a serious problem, I don't do it for a high, I don't do it everytime I"m in a store, but when I want something and don't have the money for it, I'll usually slip it into my purse, and it's so easy that it feels like free stuff.
I almost got caught at Walmart, I set the alarm off walking out, but I had bought something, and the lady never checked my purse, she just let me go.
And at Barnes and Noble the alarm went off once but I just kept walking out and nobody seemed to notice. Do you think they will look back at cameras and see me stealing and then catch me if I go back to the store? I've avoided going to the Walmart because the woman who stopped me wrote down my transaction number and the time because I set off the alarm, so I figure if they looked back at cameras they would see me stealing and arrest me if I went back there.
Do stores like Target randomly watch their cameras often?
How do I stop doing this? Should I avoid going to stores alone? I really don't want to do this anymore, it's just so easy and free.
I really need to stop, the idea of getting caught and having this on my record terrifies me.
Any tips, other than "just stop it". Maybe from others who have dealt with this in their own lives?
Thanks.
You say you want to stop but you post like you don't think you're doing anything wrong. Stealing isn't a "little bit" wrong; you can't be a "little bit" pregnant; and, despite The Princess Bride, there isn't a "mostly dead."
Until you realize this you will maintain your state of denial and be unable to control this impulse until it's controlled for you by the state.
I went through a short spate of shop stealing when I was younger (much, much younger - and I got caught). But what I'm trying to recall now is how I felt when I was doing it.
From memory, it was sense of boredom and disconnectedness with the world. A sort of 'I'm feeling entitled', feeling, where I didn't associate my actions with any real consequences. I sort of drifted into shops, took things and drifted out.
So, I'm wondering if you need to get busy. Do some real things with your life so that shopping isn't a leisure activity. Play sport, go to the gym, bushwalk, start a band - whatever. Get involved with people that you like and do things with them. Stay out of shops unless you really need something.
Get involved with life and people. The important things. Stick at it. Eventually stealing will become something that you'll look back on and wonder how you could have been so stupid.
I recall some studies that were done on why people shoplift, which is called 'shrinkage' by the stores (victim). All were 'justifications' and not the reason though.
"I once purchased something there and it didn't work."
"They were rude to me once."
"They're a large company, they won't miss it at all."
"When I tried to return something, they wouldn't take it back."
"I needed it, and they had it."
"They make so much money, I deserve this."
There were more, but at the moment I can't recall...
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