Why is it that people shoplift? Any kind of crime is a complex thing to understand. Why do people commit crimes at all? Typically to understand a crime such as shoplifting you have to truly understand the person that is committing the crime. Most of the time a person isn’t shoplifting because they are poor or lack the appropriate resources to purchase an item. Rather, they are doing it to get some sort of thrill out of stealing something and not getting caught. Most of the time a person who is shoplifting is trying to satisfy some sort of underlying need. Maybe there are problems at home or school that they don’t know how to deal with. Instead of talking to someone about these issues they find a way to cope and for some that means shoplifting to help them feel better. While it may seem like an excuse, the term Kleptomania, or klepto, is actually a psychological disorder where a person steals because it helps them to feel some sort of relief from the pressures that they are facing in day to day life. Typically the item that a person with this type of disorder is stealing is not even something that they need. Rather, it is a way to calm depression, frustration, and anxiety.