Shoplifting In Sociological Research

Shoplifting today, is becoming a growing problem in the U.S. and in our community. It has become one of the overall most widespread crimes in the U.S. Shoplifters, while in the act, don’t always realize the effect it has on our economy and daily lives.

Shoplifting is a major problem in today. The temptation of not paying for something, just hiding it away and saving your own money is a large factor for some people. The culprit just thinks he's getting a product for free and doesn't know what he's actually doing to himself and the community. Shoplifting effects everyone, yourself and the everyone in the local neighborhood.In this essay I'm going to explain some of the circumstances of stealing from local stores, or any store. After I've been caught stealing I found out how wrong it is and how it is a disadvantage to everyone.

Scarce research is available on active offenders due to their unwillingness to corporate with researchers and past and convicted offenders may have changed their perspectives after being convicted or left their lifestyle of crime. The most reliable data on these offenses and their perpetrators may come from active burglars themselves. Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker’s book, Burglars on the Job seeks to explain the reasons why burglars commit the crimes they do. They have taken their research to another level by gaining the trust of active offenders in the St. Louis area and gaining inside knowledge of these criminals’ daily lives and their crimes. This paper will address

Shoplifting is a major problem in today’s world. I myself was recently caught shoplifting and now I have to face the consequences for the bad mistake I made. The temptation of not paying for something is very big factor in why people steal. The shoplifter thinks he is getting a product for free and doesn't know what he's really doing to himself and the community. Shoplifting affects yourself, your local neighborhood and the world population.

White-collar crimes are just as prevalent today as ordinary street crimes. Studies show that criminal acts committed by white-collar criminals continue to increase due to unforeseen opportunities presented in the corporate world, but these crimes are often overlooked or minimally publicized in reference to criminal acts on the street. Many street crimes are viewed as unnecessary, horrendous crimes because they are committed by lower class citizens, whereas white collar crimes are illegal acts committed by seemingly respectable people whose occupational roles are considered successful and often admired by many (Piquero, 2014). These views often allow white collar crimes to “slip through the cracks” and carry lesser charges or punishment.

Sociological theories of crime contain a great deal of useful information in the understanding of criminal behavior. Sociological theories are very useful in the study of criminal behavior because unlike psychological and biological theories they are mostly macro level theories which attempt to explain rates of crime for a group or an area rather than explaining why an individual committed a crime. (Kubrin, 2012). There is however some micro level sociological theories of crime that attempts to explain the individual’s motivation for criminal behavior (Kubrin, 2012). Of the contemporary

The well-to-do generally come from upper-class families - meaning that they face none of the disadvantages of an absent-parent upbringing - and have no need to rob convenience stores to feed their children, so they bypass petty crime and move on to what is known as white-collar crime; financially motivated nonviolent crime committed by business and government professionals. “The temptation to commit white collar crimes is far greater for the wealthy” says Sal Bommarito of the Mic Network. Petty crime offers no worthwhile reward to the 1%, as the money earned from a late-night robbery would likely end up being spent on their breakfast the next morning, but the hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be made from corporate embezzlement could be the down payment on the new Ferrari they’d been eyeing. The lack of street crime but over-saturation of white-collar crime committed by the upper-class is ultimately just as, if not more, harmful on a global scale. Canada alone lost $74,387,465.23 in 2014 due to mass marketing fraud, a crime generally committed by white-collar criminals. In contrast, there were 14, 258 reported thefts of $5000 or more perpetrated in Canada in the same year, resulting in an approximate loss of $71, 290,000, undercutting mass marketing fraud by $3,097,465.23. The difference lays in the types of crimes being committed; the poor are more likely to commit street crime whilst the rich are ultimately more likely to commit fraudulent corporate

Brym, R.J., & Lie, J., & Rytina, S. (2010) Deviance and Crime. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd Canadian Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Toronto: Nelson

The initial experimental group was made up of 47 residential burglars who participated in the study in St. Louis, Missouri. The majority of the subjects were considered to be career burglars for the most part. All subjects thought of themselves as active burglars at the time of the study. The control group of subjects was made up of 34 individuals and was taken from community centers with mainly poor and unemployed individuals. First there was a line of questioning during interview to assess whether they have participated or were familiar with property crime and burglary. The characteristics included in the study included race, gender, and age. The two groups did not differ in age and race and sex were evenly shown in summarization.

When someone decides to steal, they are causing the police to take time out of their day to deal with minor issues. While this happens, there are other important issues occurring where people’s lives could be at risk and police resources are needed. Shoplifters need to think about how they are affecting their community’s safety, not just theirs. Petty crimes like larceny are a burden on police and it is a citizen’s moral duty to understand who they are hurting when they steal. Along with the police being misused, court systems are also using their time and effort for petty things. Millions of people volunteer or are paid to bring justice to those who break the law. Although stealing is extremely wrong and it is an important issue to be addressed, a court’s time and effort would be better spent on dealing with bigger issues. Once again, when someone shoplifts they don’t understand who they are hurting and the burden they are placing on a community. These issues need to be more focused on, and the harms they cause people and the community need to be highlighted.

Crime has always been a shadow upon societies image, these learned behaviors can be seen in all shapes and sizes, in the cities, in the streets and even in homes. The media has controlled the image of what is perceived as crime. But what truly stalks the streets at night, is it the sadistic men who care so little about human dignity they travel from coast to coast sexually assaulting women?

in a purse, pocket or bag but can occur by a variety of methods. Most

Age also has an impact on crime. Certain age groups are more likely to commit specific crimes; a prime example is teenage years. Teen are affected by peer pressure that can influence them to do things out of the ordinary. As many teenagers do not have a regular source of income, they can be tempted to shoplift to acquire clothes, cds, or other objects to fit in. Studies have found that this declines after high school when individuals must get a job to support themselves. Age can also be an indicator of what ages are most likely to be the victims of specific crimes. A 2008 study by the Department of Justice found that most victims of violent crimes were between the ages of sixteen to nineteen and declined slowly after that. From this the Department of Justice was able to conclude that violent crimes are less likely to happen to individuals sixty-five and older.

Crime is considered to be some breech or violation of behaviors which stand in opposition of rules or norms instituted by some governing body. Some actions are considered to be crimes throughout most societies in history; murder or physical abuse can serve as an example as an example. However, the majorities of things that are considered crimes are more of a subjective nature and vary widely in different societies. In many societies it is a crime to be an atheist or to be homosexual for example, while in other societies these items are tolerated and in some cases are considered social norms. Furthermore, when an individual is considered to have committed a crime, the punishments for these crimes also can vary widely depending on the culture, the social norms, the position of the authority figure, as well as a plethora of other factors. This paper will analyze some of the different forms of crime and they develop and how they are treated in different societies.

Interviewers will ask subjects to look at a calendar and state whether or not they had committed a series of different crimes for the previous 12 months. Crimes listed are to include: break-in, theft, auto-theft, fraud, forgery, shoplifting, robbery, selling of drugs, and or prostitution. Subjects are asked to respond “yes” or “no” for each listed crime. Subjects are not asked to disclose number of times crime was committed, monetary amount of damages, and/or legal repercussions to better maintain anonymity of subjects and increase willingness to partake in the research study.