Kleptomania Singapore

[Chara Dagres]

Thedistrict judge threw her into jail for 2 months, citing a similar case in 1995 where the then Chief Justice Yong Pung How said people cannot be allowed to deal with their personal problems by "giving vent to their kleptomaniac tendencies with abandon".

CJ Yong questioned if Ms Goh's case should even have come before the courts. "It was clear to me that bundling the appellant off to prison, while an apparently convenient and instant panacea, was no solution to her problem... It would destroy the very last hope for her recovery."

Within a year, she was back in court for shoplifting. And over the next 10 years, her name would come up in court papers every now and again for similar offences - stealing or even cheating women of their Hermes bags.

When she re-offended, Ms Goh's family, her boyfriend and his parents came up with another 24-hour supervision plan to ensure she was always accompanied by someone when she was out or just stay home as much as possible.

Kleptomania is a type of impulse control disorder and is defined as the consistent, irresistible impulse to steal items. Usually, these items are not needed or have little value. This impulse is so strong that individuals still commit theft despite knowing that they are committing an act against the law.

Individuals with kleptomania steal simply because they cannot control the urge to steal [1]. This is unlike typical shoplifters who steal for personal gain or due to rebellion or a dare. Afterwards, Kleptomaniacs typically experience guilt and shame following the act of stealing.

Individuals with kleptomania tend to begin stealing during adolescence. Importantly, you should note that kleptomania is not simply a character flaw; it is a mental disorder that requires empathy, understanding and treatment.

A person may be more susceptible to kleptomania if they have first-degree relatives with mental illnesses. Particularly, obsessive-compulsive disorders and impulse-control disorders (like substance use disorder) in relatives are linked to kleptomania.

Kleptomania is often comorbid with other mental disorders such as Depression, Bipolar Disorder, OCD or impulse control disorders. Hence, individuals with these disorders may also develop kleptomania [5].

Mental health professionals typically offer psychotherapy, particularly cognitive behavioural therapy, as the main treatment for kleptomania. Additionally, professionals may prescribe medication to help control urges to steal.

Researchers estimate that most kleptomaniacs typically exhibit symptoms at 17 years old. However, they also note that the age of onset for this disorder may vary widely, with some being diagnosed as early as 5 years old and some as late as 55 [8].

There is no absolute guarantee that kleptomania will be considered a valid legal defence if a person is caught stealing. However, in most cases, judges may place the person on probation to focus on recovery [8].

Kleptomania is a condition in which a person experiences a consistent impulse to steal items they do not need. The things people with kleptomania steal typically have little value to them and are often discarded or given away after being taken.

People with kleptomania do not typically plan their thefts, but they will generally avoid stealing when the risk of arrest is high. They commonly feel depressed or guilty about the thefts after they occur.

Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder (ICD), a class of psychiatric disorders characterized by difficulty controlling antisocial or aggressive impulses. Because these disorders may involve physical violence, theft, or destruction of property, they often have harmful effects on both a person with the disorder and those around them.

Unlike those who steal for monetary gain, need, or revenge, the focus of people with kleptomania is generally not the item itself, but the act of the theft. They steal for the sake of stealing. The items they steal are typically small, and of little value.

They often do not. Individuals with kleptomania typically take things they could otherwise have afforded to buy. Occasionally an individual will hoard the things they take, although this is believed to be rare and appears to be more common among women with the disorder. Some people attempt to surreptitiously return the things they take.

No. Shoplifting is much more common than kleptomania, but it has been estimated that anywhere from 4 to 24 percent of people arrested for shoplifting do live with kleptomania. Arrest does not generally deter people with kleptomania from stealing. In many cases, the disorder continues for years despite multiple arrests or convictions, leading to legal, family, career, and personal difficulties for those with the disorder.

People with kleptomania often also live with another psychiatric disorder, such as depressive or bipolar disorders (particularly major depressive disorder), anxiety disorders, eating disorders (particularly bulimia), personality disorders, substance abuse disorders (particularly alcohol use disorder), and other impulse-control and conduct disorders.

Some clinicians see kleptomania as part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders, because many people experience the impulse to steal as an unwanted intrusion into their minds. Other evidence suggests kleptomania may be more closely related to, or be a variant of, mood disorders such as depression.

It does not appear to, although immediate family members of people with kleptomania may have higher rates of obsessive-compulsive disorder than the general population, according to some research, and there appears to be a higher rate of substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder, in relatives of people with kleptomania than in the general population.

There is little clinical evidence of the typical course of kleptomania, but research has described three typical pathways. In some people, episodes of kleptomania are only brief and sporadic, with long periods of remission between them. In others, episodes are more protracted but still alternate with periods of remission. And in some, kleptomania is chronic with some fluctuation.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common therapeutic approach, although some clinicians employ psychodynamic therapy. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which raise serotonin levels in the brain, may also be used to treat kleptomania, typically in conjunction with therapy.

Aversion therapy is sometimes used to treat kleptomania. Typically, the individual is asked to purposely associate something unpleasant with the urge to steal, such as training themselves to think of something disgusting whenever an urge to steal arises, or to hold their breath to bring on discomfort when thoughts of stealing emerge.

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Kleptomania is an enigmatic condition and is among the very few psychiatric disorders in which crime is medicalised and used as a legal defence. The scientific literature on kleptomania is scarce. Early literature and recent studies have shown a female preponderance, with an early age of onset of stealing in people with comorbid personality disorder(s). In a retrospective review of the case notes of theft offenders who had forensic psychiatric evaluations performed in a one-year period in 2010 at the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, we found three patients who were diagnosed with kleptomania. In this report, we describe the pertinent clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the diagnostic issues of kleptomania in relation to the three cases.

Ultimately however, the prosecution has the option to decide whether to charge a shoplifter with theft, or theft in dwelling, depending on which charge it is confident of proving in court. The authorities may therefore choose to proceed with a charge of theft even though the circumstances relate to a charge of theft in dwelling.

It is also possible to meet with the authorities/prosecution team to explain the circumstances of the offence, in the hope of having the charge reduced or to find a resolution on the appropriate punishment for the crime. Being represented by a lawyer for such meetings is advisable.

Point (4) above, however, carries limited weight if one was caught red-handed. In contrast, a sentencing court may be persuaded to give a lower sentence to an offender who surrendered himself/herself willingly despite not being caught, as this may be viewed as an indication of remorse.

Generally, young offenders may be considered for probation as it is accepted that rehabilitation is a dominant consideration/focus for young offenders. However, the full circumstances of each case will be considered and a young shoplifter may not be eligible for probation in certain cases.

Generally, it would be fair to state that the act of shoplifting can hardly be said to be excused or justified even in the most desperate of circumstances. However, there might be room to argue that a lower or different kind of sentence (such as probation, which focuses on rehabilitation, instead of imprisonment) should be preferred for shoplifters who labour under mental disorders or illness.

If a shoplifter has been diagnosed with kleptomania by an independent psychiatrist, probation is more likely to be imposed due to its focus on rehabilitation. This is because kleptomaniacs often act out of an impulse which is difficult to keep under control, and can hence be said to be less blameworthy than other shoplifters not suffering from the same condition.

However, this does not mean that probation will always be ordered in such cases. If an offender proves to be unable to abide by or comply with treatment programmes ordered by the court, and blatantly disregards such programmes, a sentencing court may form the opinion that a term of imprisonment is more appropriate.

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