Understanding the Multifaceted Roots of Kleptomania

Kleptomania is a multifaceted and dynamic phenomenon that reveals complex inner experiences in both adults and adolescents. Adults often experience this behavior against a backdrop of deep emotional disturbances, where kleptomania manifests as a symptom of broader personality or affective disorders. These disturbances distort normal impulses, turning theft into a means of expressing inner conflicts.

The adolescent period is no less complex: here, theft may become not just an impulsive act but a way to cope with feelings of inadequacy and to compensate for traumatic experiences. For young people faced with cruelty, loss, or a sense of injustice, such an act takes on the symbolism of seeking attention and attempting self-affirmation. In both cases, kleptomania transcends the simple act of stealing and serves as a reflection of profound emotional and psychological processes.

Thus, understanding this phenomenon requires a comprehensive approach that combines diagnostics of emotional disturbances with analysis of personality aspects. Recognizing that each act hides dramatic inner experiences allows for a broader perspective on the problem and can help identify strategies for support and correction aimed at restoring mental balance.

What Are the Possible Causes of Kleptomania in Adults and Adolescents?

Based on the provided citations, several factors can be identified as contributing to the development of kleptomania in both adults and adolescents.

Among adults, kleptomania is often viewed as a symptom of a broader disturbance related to dysregulated impulses. According to source ( link txt), “They most often appear as symptoms of impulse disorders in other conditions – affective, organic, personality-related… By pubertal age, a complex, polymorphic syndrome structure of pathologically altered impulses is established: … dromomanic ones with theft…” This indicates that in adults, kleptomania can be considered an expression of deep-seated disturbances linked to emotional and personality issues. Such disturbances may arise due to existing affective conditions or organic changes that impact the impulse system.

In adolescents, in addition to the formation of pathologically altered impulses, psychological factors such as self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy play a significant role. As noted in the citation from ( link txt), adolescents may commit thefts believing that the stolen item will make them more attractive or confident, often driven by inner dissatisfaction with themselves. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the example from ( link txt), traumatic life experiences—such as enduring cruelty, the loss of family, or feelings of injustice—can trigger an adolescent to view theft as a way to compensate for inner pain and assert their significance.

Thus, the potential causes for the development of kleptomania can be summarized as follows:
1. In adults – the presence of underlying emotional disturbances associated with affective, organic, or personality disorders, leading to distorted impulses.
2. In adolescents – the development of pathologically altered impulses against a backdrop of inner feelings of inadequacy, the desire for self-affirmation, and experiences of trauma, where theft is perceived as a means to attract attention or redress feelings of injustice.

Supporting citation(s):
“... They most often appear as symptoms of impulse disorders in other conditions – affective, organic, personality-related, so additional diagnostics is needed… By pubertal age, a complex, polymorphic syndrome structure of pathologically altered impulses is established: … dromomanic ones with theft…” (source: link txt)

“Adolescents steal things that, as they believe, will make them more attractive, masculine, popular. They do it out of a sense of inadequacy…” (source: link txt)

“… he perceived the situation differently and became convinced that any object, regardless of its ownership, could become his own, if only he wished so.” (source: link txt)