Stealing lately: a case of late-onset kleptomania

Impulse control disorders.

“…She was then able to go 14 months with only a single lapse in behavior and with no reported urges to steal (Gauthier & Pellerin, 1982). A 77-year-old woman responded well to both a self-imposed ban on shopping and covert sensitization (McNeilly & Burke, 1998).…”

Impulse Control Disorders: Updated Review of Clinical Characteristics and Pharmacological Management

“…It has been estimated that between 3.8 and 24% of shoplifters struggle with KM (Arieff and Bowie, 1947; Schlueter et al, 1989). KM typically begins between ages 16 and 20 (Grant and Kim, 2002; Grant et al, 2009a), but has been reported in children as young as 4 (Phelan, 2002) and adults as old as 77 (McNeilly and Burke, 1998). Studies have found that between 63 and 75% of those with KM are female (McElroy et al, 1991; Grant and Kim, 2002).…”

Consumer Misbehavior: The Rise of Self-Service Grocery Retailing and Shoplifting in the United Kingdom c. 1950-1970

“…Emblematic of this, and indeed the wider place of the supermarket in popular culture, is a fictional, though perhaps allegorical, account of how an elderly woman unwittingly became a shoplifter. The incident can be contextualized in existing literature on the elderly consumer, suggesting unpredictability in how this shopper demographic may react to new retail environments (McNeilly and Burke 1998;Zeithaml and Gilly 1987). "A Kind of Game" was published in the magazine Woman's Realm in July 1965 and took its place alongside the myriad of recipes, household tips, and advertisements for products.…”