Why would someone with a handsome income, impressive career and high social status risk it all for something like a handbag?
It’s a question many asked in the early noughties when Girl, Interrupted actress Winona Ryder was busted lifting designer items from Saks at the height of her fame, and this summer after an Ocean Alley band member used five-finger discount to snag a Yeti drink bottle cap from a Queenstown store.
After ex-Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman pleaded guilty to four shoplifting charges today, the question of why an affluent person would commit retail theft is again being raised.
Wellington psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland says this type of behaviour can be a stress-release response.
“There’s often this build-up of tension and stress before the shoplifting takes place and then when the shoplifting does happen or the stealing happens, then that’s associated with quite a bit of a relief of tension, and you probably get a bit of dopamine kicking around, so you’re feeling kind of good,” he said.
His comments track with a message Ghahraman shared after the incidents came to light earlier this year, when she cited “extreme stress” in trying to explain, but not excuse, her actions.
While Sutherland said shoplifting without economic necessity was rare, he could imagine a situation where someone inadvertently takes something or steals as a dare and gets a kick out of it, and so continues the behaviour.
“It’s not a particularly helpful way [to deal with stress], and it’s not like people are going, ‘Feeling really stressed out now, I’m going to go and shoplift’. It doesn’t work in such a straightforward way, which I think makes it hard for people to understand.”
He compared it to people having a drink after work and not intending to get “absolutely smashed”, but then ending up associating being drunk with relieving stress.
Sutherland didn’t believe people like this were deliberately going out to steal and would try to resist their impulses, knowing it was not an “appropriate” thing to do.
“In fact, for kleptomania, it’s associated with lots of guilt and shame afterwards, and regret that it happened.”
Sutherland said kleptomania was a disorder that fits with the stress release description, but it was rare, and he said even more people may steal for the thrill.
Sutherland said that when someone is exhibiting behaviour that doesn’t make sense, it is a clue people should try to understand the behaviour more.
“If there is an irrational behaviour, it suggests that perhaps all is not well.”
He said most people don’t actively seek treatment when they are struggling with theft, so they usually come to the attention of mental health professionals through the police.
“Probably that’s because it’s associated with guilt and shame and people know it’s an illegal behaviour and can have consequences.
“I think if this sort of story has sparked something for people, then it’s way better to try and get help for that sooner rather than later.”
University of Auckland senior criminology lecturer Ronald Kramer told the Herald in criminal theory, the question of motivation is a difficult one.
“We often imagine there is one kind of motivation, people are sort of on a quest for a theory of crime that explains why people do it and I would say that’s a bit futile because there’s all kinds of motivations.”
On the simplest level, he said people imagine there is a real need that is driving the activity, for example, people stealing food out of necessity.
“Every kind of emotion we have is possibly a motivation, so sometimes people might engage in all kinds of activity because they’re angry, or they’re frustrated or they feel powerless, right, whatever the case may be.
“Sometimes it’s just fun and pleasure-seeking.”
Kramer also believed people were induced to consume in a certain way, and said no amount of wealth or social standing could always mitigate that.
“You put all these luxury items out there that are unnecessary and unaffordable for most people, but you encourage people to want that.
“But then we turn around and we’re surprised when they steal it. I’m not surprised they do it, because there’s so much encouragement to consume those kinds of items, but they’re ridiculously overpriced.
“Of course you’re going to get a bunch of people trying to steal [luxury items].”
A 2014 United States study found shoplifting was “significantly more common” in individuals with at least some college education and among those with individual incomes over $35,000 and family incomes over $70,000.
It raises the same question as to why CEOs would embezzle from corporations, given their high salaries.
In those cases, in Kramer’s opinion “greed like that has no limit, and I’m not saying this is a product of greed, but it really could be anything”.
People did all kinds of “weird s***” for all kinds of reasons, he said.
“Sometimes when I’m at Countdown now I wanna steal s*** because I see the prices of things and I’m like ‘this is outrageous, why am I being charged $6 for a piece of broccoli?’.”
In light of the cost-of-living crisis, he said there had been a breakdown in what people were accustomed to, and theft can help them regain some sense of control over their lives.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said there was no single face of retail crime and it was committed by people across the community.
“From all sectors, from all ethnicities, all genders, all ages, so you can’t box someone and say because someone is affluent or they’re a business person that they absolutely wouldn’t undertake [retail theft].”
Young said she spoke to a staffer from a lower-end fashion store who relayed how common it was for middle-aged women in business attire to steal.
“I think that’s the thing that has been brought to life with the events last week, is that actually, you can’t tell by the face of somebody what actions they will undertake. I think it’s true in retail as it is in life.”
She told the Herald there was a perception of what this type of crime looks like and why it is undertaken, when there is “every reason under the sun” why people steal from retailers.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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