Shop Theft

Several studies point to the young age at which young people can become involved in shop theft.

A self-report study of offending by 12 – 30 year olds in 1998-99 found that, with criminal damage, shop-lifting was the commonest offence admitted by girls under 15.

The table below gives the proportion of young people admitting shop-theft in the 12 month period.

Source: Flood-Page, C, Campbell, S, Harrington V & Miller J, (2000) Youth crime: Findings from the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey, Home Office Research Study 209, London, Home Office.

Shop theft accounted for 18% of all offences admitted to by women in the Youth Lifestyles Survey, compared to 6% of men’s crimes.

Findings such as those from the Milton Keynes Retail Theft Initiative point to the importance of peer pressure as a motivation for offending.

• 35% of all offenders for whom a motive is recorded claimed to have been pressurized to commit the offence.

• The proportion rises to 46% for offenders aged 15 or under.

McCulloch, H (1996) Shop Theft: Improving the Police Response. Crime Detection & Prevention Series Paper 76, London, Home Office

A detailed study of a small number of ex-offenders who admitted to having been shoplifters offers insights on deterrents.

• Among the ex-offenders consulted the biggest deterrent to offending was the presence of staff near the target areas or of security guards who followed people round the store

• The ability of stores to identify offenders from photographic records also acted as a positive deterrent

• The deterrent effect of CCTV and electronic security systems was found to vary depending on the ‘professionalism’ of the individuals concerned.

Butler, G (1994) ‘Shoplifters’ views on security: lessons for crime prevention’, in M Gill (ed) Crime at Work: Studies in Security and Crime Prevention, Leicester, Perpetuity Press