SHOPLIFTING AND MENTAL-ILLNESS

A survey of 1,649 shoplifting convictions at a Montreal area municipal court found that a relatively low percentage (3.2%) of the cases invo lved mentally ill patients and that there is a comparatively closer li nk between shoplifting and affective disorders, alcoholism and drug ad diction. The survey also showed that shoplifting is related more to me ntal illness than to the use of psychotropic drugs. The authors theref ore reject the hypothesis of pharmacogenic shoplifting which has been reported in some studies on small numbers of shoplifters.