I'd wager the guess that shoplifting has more sources than one. Ask anyone in retail, it has always been prevalent:
- Juveniles do it as a dare or as a result of peer influence, adults out of habit, sickness (addicts) or compulsion, think of the issues Winona Ryder had with it some years back. Generally, that type of shoplifting can be handled (the costs are soialized, we all pay for it via retail prices) and doesn't pose a threat to free retail unless you are located in a really bad part of town where youth joblessness and/or addictions run rampage.
- It can also become a field of expertise of organized crime groups or families - that is where police investigation work and deterrence has to step in.
- High inflation/low income can put the squeeze on people and get them to do things they normally wouldn't. An insufficiently monitored check-out area and reduced sales staff can then let the last theft inhibitions fall away, but these are only supporting circumstances, not the real cause. I guess that we all agree that even in an unsurveilled shop with a lousy check-out control it is not exactly beneficial for society (or the free availability of goods to be purchased) in the long run if you just grab the stuff without paying. The "sqeeze issue" though can only be addressed politically/economically, not by police work or better theft control in retail.
