Shoplifting Review, Essay Example

Shoplifting occurs all across the globe every single day.  Many laws have been enacted and security organizations work to provide the best technology available to catch people in the act of shoplifting before merchandise leaves the store.  With a shoplifting conviction, people are not only subject to penalties in the criminal justice system but they are also subject to public ridicule and disappointment that is reflected by friends and family.

For me, I would prefer to face the courts than the reactions of my friends and family.  The courts are formal and handle shoplifting every single week.  It is almost expected in my hometown that someone be seen in the courts or stopped by security or police officers outside of a store on a regular basis.  We see this at our local Wal-Mart all the time, so much so that most people ignore the security message when stolen merchandise triggers the system.  Under most state laws, “the store also has the right to demand the return of the merchandise, to ban the offender from their store for a period of time, to prosecute the offender criminally and charge the offender with a civil penalty as well – all under local and state law” (NASP, n.d.).

However, I cannot ignore the negative reactions of my friends and family.  My friends, depending on how close they were, would likely not care as much if they were to hear about me shoplifting.  My family, on the other hand, would have a very hostile, embarrassed and heated reaction.  I would likely be engaged in a slew of arguments and be personally ridiculed in multiple ways that it would be far worse to experience this penalty than almost anything else the courts may decide to hand out.  This is the case because my family holds the same name and are directly linked to me both positively and negatively.  When one of us is successful, we all share in the glory and celebrate.  However, when one people shames themselves, we view it as shaming our family name and reputation which is not acceptable under any circumstances.  My friends are not involved except that they may be seen around town with me.  They do not feel the same personal embarrassment from my actions, so they clearly would not share the shame reaction as my family.

References

Crime crushers. (10 S). Retrieved from http://www.sonoma-county.org/crimecrushers/shoplifting.htm

Nasp. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.shopliftingprevention.org/shoplifting-laws/shoplifting-laws.html