My friends daughter has been stealing for several years. She is only 13 but acts much younger.She has an older sister and a younger brother. I want to know what disorders are associated with this type of behavior. The things she steals she usually just throws away. Some of the items are valuable and belong to neighbors of ours. Her mom is a wits end and ready to turn her over to juvenile authorities. They have tried psychologist and psychiatrist but ten minutes talking to the child once a week is not helping. Does any one know of other treatments. They were treating her at one time for adhd but all that did was drug her.

I assume that she does this either for the thrill or the attention. I would try a FAMILY therapy session. Just her going might make her feel singled out. I think that the child and both parents, and maybe even siblings all sitting and talking with a professional could bring out some other variables or reasons for her behavior. And honestly, whoever she was going to doesn't sound like the best person to "treat" her if he was just drugging her. She needs real help before she gets older and this becomes an issue for adult authorities and it ruins her life.

Kleptomania is becoming unbelievably common in teens. They seem to think that since stores overprice things so much, they should just take things.

It's not just about the price of things.

As I mentioned there are many reasons as to why teens steal.

Attention and thrill are the main ones.