Patterns of Department Store Shoplifting

Abstract

Varying amounts of information were obtained on every per son apprehended in 1958 for shoplifting in three large depart ment stores in Philadelphia. The individual sample sizes for Stores A, B, and C were 285, 834, and 465 cases, respectively. The following conclusions were made on the basis of the data gathered: (1) Shoplifting is primarily a juvenile activity. (2) Allowing suspected shoplifters to leave the store or store prem ises before apprehending them may be a matter of custom and a store precaution rather than a fulfillment of any legal require ment. (3) Although female apprehensions were more prevalent than male, there is little justification for regarding shoplifting as an almost exclusively female activity. (4) In comparison to their proportion in the population of the city, Negroes were dis proportionately represented in the stores' apprehension figures. (5) Juvenile theft, in terms of the retail value of the stolen goods, tended to be considerably less costly than adult theft. (6) Man agers of the stores showed an extreme reluctance to "prosecute" juveniles. (7) By far the most important determinant of the dis position of a case was the size of the theft. (8) The fact that more than seven out of every ten juveniles involved in shoplifting were apprehended in groups confirms the social nature of shop lifting among juveniles.