Scams, stealing, theft Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Scams, stealing, theft - Research Paper Example obbery (application of force in order to steal from someone), copyright theft (non-physical theft, of ideas/ thoughts), retailing theft (shoplifting), credit card theft, embezzlement, possession of stolen material, forgery, identity theft, and so on. Stealing is an offense that results in punishments such as fines and jail terms. In the contemporary society, theft is fast becoming the number one global crime with surveys indicating that over a quarter of jailed person in major world nations are serving time in prisons on theft related convictions. This is not to mention the numerous cases that often go unreported or un-noticed by the law. One of the most notorious kinds of theft in the present age is shoplifting. Shoplifting refers to the removal of an item (goods) from a sales shop (shop) without paying for it. There are several questions that continue to trouble mankind concerning the crime of theft. What really triggers a person to steal? Is there a specific age in which one is transformed into a thief? Who is to blame for the alarming increases of theft cases around the world? What can be done to curb the tendency to steal? This essay attempts to answer these questions in a fair, well-informed and well-supported way using expert opinions, experiences and global surveys. As per the results of Jack L. Hayes International’s 26th Annual Retail Theft Survey, approximately 1.2 million dishonest workers and shoplifters were caught in the year 2013 in the United States alone. Equally more surprising is the fact that these apprehensions were done in only the 23 retail companies that were surveyed with more than USD 200 million recovered from these thefts. These figures continue to rise yearly and were noticeably higher than the statistics for the previous year, 2012. With increasing retail thefts, shop owners are facing huge annual loses with the innocent consumer forced to pay higher prices for goods in order to cover the losses from theft. This theft thus results