Teenagers with kleptomania

All children steal, possibly an extreme statement, but small children do not exactly understand the notion of paying for items and many a mum has reached the checkout at the local department store or grocery store and been embarrassed to find that their toddler has helped themselves to an item from the shelves. This happens so frequently, that shop assistants smile in understanding and the parent has to decide whether to risk a toddler tantrum or give in and let the toddler keep their pocketed item.

When teenagers steal, shops are less understanding and parents are dismayed and upset to discover their child has been caught shoplifting. When teenagers take money from their parents' purse, or empty the housekeeping jar, parents assume it is for that specific item the parent has refused to buy, or worse that the teenager has a drug habit they need to finance.

Whilst these acts of theft are reprehensible to different degrees, they are a t least understandable and have a reason; mindless stealing of totally random items, hoarded in the teenagers bedroom, often unwrapped and never used, is far more baffling. Nevertheless, stealing is stealing, it is not a victimless crime, and it causes upset and dismay.

The teenager, who steals, however randomly, is still engaging in a criminal act, and when they steal from family and, when challenged, do not see it as stealing this demonstrates a serious lack of respect and a worrying disconnection from society's basic laws of right and wrong. The parents need to find out whether their teenager is deliberately stealing to hurt those around them, as a sign of anger and defiance or is truly ill and has no control over the stealing. Either way they need professional help, which may result in a diagnosis of kleptomania.

Kleptomania or compulsive stealing is a pathological disorder, rare but serious. The teenager may be experiencing a break from reality when they steal, and frequently have little memory of the actual act of theft. It is certainly a cry for help, but diagnosing the underlying problem is complex. Kleptomaniacs often steal items they can easily buy or borrow and in addition to not remembering the act, make no attempt to hide the theft; they seem to want to be caught. It is a condition that can be treated with therapy, firstly aimed at understanding what it is the teenager is hiding emotionally.

Sometimes kleptomania can be triggered by a traumatic event, such as rape, abuse, close encounters with death, loss of a loved one, or an extremely frightening occurrence that the sufferer has buried. It may take some time for the teenager to overcome this condition and they may need residential treatment as they will need to be closely watched to ensure they have no opportunity to steal again or turn to other compulsive behaviors that may be more self destructive.