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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. According to Sigmund Freud the personality is made up of an id, ego, and superego. The Id is the naughty child within that tells you it is fun and okay to steal. The superego is the parent or minister within telling you it is bad to steal. The ego is well-defined when it is made up of the id and superego in equal parts without one taking over. The ego assimilates what is correct and would not allow stealing. 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 or family they were born into, or another culure they became involved with or became a part of. 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 this case the act of stealing is considered okay and could not be constrained by the superego. The superego might in this case be the controlling parent that says it is bad not to steal.

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? 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. Of course there would have to be no other option whatever available in order for stealing in this instance to be ethical.

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 things like being totally broke, being homeless, not having a job and needing money to pay bills, or drug addiction, it still all boils down to not having any superego strength, being ruled by your Id, and having a very weak ego.

A person

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