Kleptomania: Illness Or Theft?

Shoplifting is…misunderstood because the line between crime and disease has blurred. Although most estimates put the number of kleptomaniacs among shoplifters at between 0 and 8 percent, some experts believe that the disease is far more prevalent. Others contend that so-called shopping addiction has replaced kleptomania altogether.

Rachel Shteir, The Steal, 2011