Family Guy:Shoplifting

Family Guy: Shoplifting
'Breaking Out Is Hard To Do', Family Guy, 2005, Fox

Is shoplifting different to any other kind of theft?

Why do people who can afford things choose to shoplift?

Shoplifting can be an attractive pursuit for a many people; there is an obvious benefit, in that you may gain something for nothing but perhaps even more persuasive is the thrill and excitement that it generates to knowingly break the law at such high risk.

Shoplifting is different to the many other forms of theft, considered by many as a mere ‘petty crime’ it does seem a far cry from an armed robbery of a bank or the blackmailing of a wealthy businessman by kidnapping his children or even assaulting an old lady for her pension money. It seems much less threatening then the other examples and perhaps there is less guilt attached when stealing from a large company which we assume doesn’t really need the money from the item anyway, a fight against the establishment maybe.

People who shoplift when they can afford not to may be lured primarily by the excitement of the act and also the added comfort of knowing that the punishment for being caught will not be too severe. Maybe as in the family guy clip they are motivated by greed as well as excitement.

Theft is a dishonest practice but like gambling can be quite addictive for those who start and do have success because they are blinded by some early, usually short lived benefits, being the thrill and the satisfaction of accomplishment as well as gaining that ‘something for nothing’ but they will eventually become more ambitious in what they steal and this is where the risks become higher as the crime becomes more serious.

It is unfair and selfish to knowingly steal an item where everyone else must pay the full price. For me, shoplifting is still not worth the risk, if people seek excitement there are countless law abiding ways to do so, but maybe this is the attraction, the fact that it’s bad and they know it.

This website has a great article about shoplifting http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featsharrock_shoplifting.shtml

I made a comment about shoplifting here: http://invincibles49.blogspot.com/ it contains a very insightfull personal experince that i found usefull when developing my thoughts.