title: Shoplifting: is there a specific psychiatric syndrome?
abstract: The psychiatric, psychosocial and medicolegal variables of 50 shoplifters and two comparison groups are described. The shoplifters were found to be an almost identical population when compared to general, (non-forensic) psychiatric outpatients, and differed significantly from a comparison group of general forensic patients excluding shoplifters. A high level of psychosocial stress antedating the shoplifting behaviour was a significant finding. A profile of a typical shoplifter referred for psychiatric examination is a 37 year old married female person, employed at the professional end of the occupational spectrum, who is suffering from a depressive neurosis and who steals an item of insignificant value or use to herself. The psychiatric diagnostic profile supports the lenient legal disposition by the courts.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009864:Ontario; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013800:Theft / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence