Shoplifting and employee theft is one of the most prevalent phenomena in the US society. Studies indicate that out of the total revenue lost in the US retail sector, shoplifting accounts for 37 percent while employee theft accounts for 43 percent (Johns, Hayes, Scicchitano & Grottini, 2017).
Shoplifting and employee theft statistics
In 2015, there were 1,246,003 apprehensions for shoplifting and dishonesty among employees. This was a 2 percent increase as compared to 2014. For shoplifting alone, in 2016, there were 1,205,651 cases of shoplifting (Farmer & Dawson, 2017). In 2015, there were 1,170,056 cases. In 2014, there were 1,146,753 cases of shoplifting among departmental stores in US. In 2013, the number of shoplifting cases was 1,137,065 while in 2012 it was 1, 127, 9834.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
For employee theft, in 2016, the number of apprehensions due to employee theft was 78,023. In 2015, this was number was 75,947 while in 2014 the number of employee theft cases was 75,247(Johns, Hayes, Scicchitano & Grottini, 2017). In 2013 the number of employee theft in departmental stores was 76,239 while in 2012, this number was 74,124.
Two of the most significant criminological theories which are related to shoplifting and employee theft are social structure theory and rationale choice theory. According to the social structure theory, people engage in shoplifting due to the influence of the social structure that an individual lives (Johns, Hayes, Scicchitano & Grottini, 2017). As such, an individual that lives in a community where shoplifting is prevalent, then the individual is likely to engage in the act. Rationale choice theory, on the other hand, holds people engage in shoplifting and employee theft as a matter of choice rather than influence. It states that in shoplifting and employee theft, an individual makes a decision to engage these acts.
References
Farmer, J. F., & Dawson, J. (2017). American College Students' Shoplifting Experience: A Comparison of Retrospective Self-Reports to Micro-Level Criminological Theory. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences , 12 (1), 1.
Johns, T. L., Hayes, R., Scicchitano, M. J., & Grottini, K. (2017). Testing the effectiveness of two retail theft control approaches: an experimental research design. Journal of Experimental Criminology , 1-7.
