Adolescent Shoplifting and Situational Stimuli

Abstract

Adolescent shoplifting has provoked limited and somewhat controversial perspectives within the sociological and psychological literature.These controversies center around the empirical variables used for analysis. A companion argument focuses on the subjective and objective measurement of these variables.This research explicated variables from the sociological literature to test their relationship, using multiple linear regression, to adolescent shoplifting behavior. These variables and situational stimuli were operationalized in a simultaneous model to demonstrate a proximate occurrence of the attitude-situation-behavior reciprocal. This reciprocal is a learning theory which suggests that direct and vicarious experiences accompanied by rewards and punishment, in one's environment, lead to the acquisition of specific beliefs, attitudes and behavior toward a situation. This research contends that beliefs and attitudes toward the situation, rather than the bonding, peer association and other factors, shape adolescent shoplifting behavior.