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Some people steal because they have no inner controls that tell them not to steal. These people are lacking in a well-defined ego and have no superego whatsoever. As Sigmund Freud tells us the Personality is made up of an Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the naughty child within us who does anything he/she likes - no holds barred. The Superego is that part of us that is the Parent or Minister telling us it is bad to do so and such. The Ego is well defined when it is made up of some of these but never too much of one. Therefore a person steals because his Id tells him it is okay, his Superego has no constraints - the parent is not there, and the Ego is therefore lacking in sufficient strength to counteract the powerful Id.

Other people steal because to steal is part of the culture they were born into or became part of their culture. In born into it is the family. The parents steal and teach their children to steal. Some parents and children steal together as a family. Or another culture could be an organized crime culture maybe starting with a gang and being initiated into the gang and then to the whole world of organized crime.

In some cases, stealing could be ethical. Such a case would be where the relative will die without needed medication and there is no one in the family with money to buy needed medication to keep the person alive. Which is more ethical? To let your loved one die because you have no money or to steal the money to pay for the medication so that your loved one can live? (We were presented with this scenario in a college class on ethics).
So this may be another reason for stealing). In this case the Id is not controlling. The Ego must counteract the Superego to allow himself to steal. In this case it a rational decision not a non-controlling Id that dictates the stealing.

Then there is the Kleptomaniac which is a mental disorder characterizing a person who just steals for no reason whatever.

In all cases where the outward causes for stealing are being totally broke, being homeless, not having a job and needing money to pay bills, drug addiction, etc. it still all boils down to not having any superego strength, being ruled by your Id, and having a very weak ego.

A person who has a well-defined ego no matter how poor and without a job would not steal for money. They would go on welfare or try to get a loan or do whatever they could within the confines of moral and physical law.

White collar crime is stealing too, and in these cases of cause, people

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