OCR Text |
Show "uGGiiGfjors SCiopilfinp Essays by juvenile shoplifters on "Why I Shoplift" are providing pro-viding useful insights into why teenagers steal and, according to Utah physchologist VirgilB rock-bank, rock-bank, understanding these reasons rea-sons can help parents cope with a child who commits retail theft. "We instituted the shoplifting essay program to try and pinpoint pin-point why juveniles ,-steal," said Salt Lake County Juvenile Court psychologist, Virgil Brockbank. "The results are not an objective ob-jective analysis of the problem, but they do supply a range of interesting motives for why teenagers teen-agers shoplift." In 20 essays selected at random, ran-dom, no less than 46 reasons were given for shopliftingreasons shopliftingrea-sons ranging from "lack of money" to "it was like a game" to "I would rather spend my money on other things" to "I wanted to hurt my parents." The parent-teen conflict appears to be at the root of many shoplifting incidents. An 18-year-old girl wrote, "I did it (shoplifting) because of revenge and trust. Revenge on my Dad and wanting him to trust me. He never gives me money. That's the way he is with everything every-thing he owns...ripping off seemed to be the only way to get back at him." Many youths said they shoplifted shop-lifted because they didn't have the money to but the stolen items and their parents wouldn't give it to them. Or, they shoplifted to hurt their parents' feelings. One 14-year-old wrote, "Maybe "May-be one reason I started (shoplifting) (shop-lifting) is that my parents always al-ways expect too much from me. I guess I just had to show them that I wouldn't always be able to live up to what they make me to be. And now that I got caught, they are constantly saying, say-ing, 'You never used to be like this,' or "You've changed,' and Why aren't you the way you used to be?' I get so sick of hearing that!" Another form of hostility towards to-wards parents surfaced in the essay of a 14-year-old girl who was caught stealing a shirt: "My Mom and Dad don't like the shirts I get anyway," she wrote. "They always say either it doesn't cover anything or it costs too much. Every time I get a shirt, they don't like it. They (Tis the Season MAGIC GENEE 44 48 AUTOMATIC GENIE CHORDS With bass accompaAiment-from just 13 keys LOWREY GLIDE An exciting effect that you have to hear to believe RHYTHM ACCOMPANIMENT 6 authentic rhythm patterns provide the beat for rock to Waltz ST J K J - L . J Yell Motives For Incidents just treat me as if I didn't exist." In addition to the parent-teen conflict, juvenile shoplifters say the high cost of merchandise and pressure from friends are reasons rea-sons they steal. A 13-year-old explained teenage teen-age economics this way: "I'm too young to get a job, and my parents only give me so much a week." Another 14-year-old said: "Sometimes your parents don't have the money. So waht are you supposed to do...go ask for it? You know darned well they won't let you have it." . An 18-year-old girl wrote, "If there's something they (shoplifters) (shop-lifters) really want and haven't got the money for it, they dont want to wait a week for their parents to come and buy it. So they rip it off." A description of a shoplifting incident by a 13-year-old boy illustrates the pressure some teens receive from their friends. fri-ends. "He (my friend) was looking at the coats when he saw the boxers. He said "Get them for me.' "I said 'No.' He said You chicken!' "I said, "Get them yourself.' He said, 'I'll give you a dollar.' I said, 'All right.' "So I got the boxers. I was walking out of the door when they caught me..." Pressure from friends can work in reverse. A 16-year-old reported: "When I did it (shoplifting) my girlfriend was with me. It made me kind of mad that she didn't try and talk me out of it because she had been caught before. She could have at least said, If you're going to do that, then I'm going somewhere else." Motives for teenage shoplifting shoplift-ing can be simple: "We needed a part for a spotlight but couldn't locate one. So I found a spotlight, spot-light, cut the part off and took it." Or, the reasons can be very complex: "Sometimes I rip something off to sell it to get the money tobuysmething... like dope." Whatever the causes for teenage teen-age shoplifting, parents must understand their child's motives for stealing and then deal effectively effec-tively with the probable outcome STEREO MAGIC GENIE CUSTOM-MADE EFFECTS From the serenity ot the Hawaiian guitar to the slide ol a trombone MAGIC GENIE CHORDS One linger plays a vibrant three-note three-note chord PIANO & HARPSICHORD ARPEGGIOS Flip o tab-the Magic Genie does it all iv i i ji 111 v r.ii i y 1 i fsfjii . hLfirV'i I IBM,. X; See and hear all the Lowrey favorites at nnnr n v J L w-j L. In Essay that their .child will be caught. Children expect to get caught," Brockbank said. "They will try to avoid it, but will still expect to get stopped. A parent does a child a favor when taking steps to halt an act that is illegal." ille-gal." Brockbank has advice for parents par-ents who must confront a child who has been caught shoplifting. "The important thing is that the child be assured that he or she still has the parent's love when the hole matter comes to light. Many parents, through false notions of love, think that keeping the child out of trouble by covering up or paying the damages will preserve the love between them. Most parents who do this are only preserving their own self-image, not the child's love." Police and merchants recommend recom-mend that parents intervene quickly when shoplifting is suspected. sus-pected. Any delay may encourage encour-age additional problems. "Expect your child to face up to what he or she has done," says Brockbank. "Also assure him or her that you will be there as a back-uD. Trv to avoid siding with tba 1 ichild even if you see a bonafide injustice. ?I(Some careful care-ful questioning of how the child proposes to handle the situation will help the child learn from experience." Of the 20 essays selected at random, 12 teenagers expressed a resolve not to try shoplifting again, Four expressed no opinion, opin-ion, while four implied that, despite de-spite being caught, they might try shoplifting in the future. One 17-year-old wrote: "I'm . kinda glad that I did get caught because I would have tried it again, I think." Still another youth declared: "I'm not going to do it again. I have other problems pro-blems to work out that are a lot more important than .playing games!" Utah's shoplifting laws treat retail theft as anything but a game. "Many teenagers don't appreciate appre-ciate the seriousness of a shoplifting shop-lifting conviction until it happens. A criminal record can be a short term embarrassment and a lifelong life-long barrier," Brockbank said. A 14-year-old essayist said it this way: "I'm not gong to shoplift shop-lift any more because it's too much trouble for nothing." for iho parfocf femilygmf! Good Housekeeping' nmm fwry tmmy organ hen tarmd trw Good Houfceping Sat. nsvv Winter Driving Common Sense Professor Archie H. Easton thinks it might be a good idea if the snow belt states could trade their year-end climate with someplace south of the equator. The problem, as Easton sees it, is that our worst winter weather usually strikes at the same time the Christmas and New Year's holiday season descends on us and winter travel is at its peak. Since swapping climates is a highly impractical dream, Eas-ton's Eas-ton's second choice is to swap some tested, practical winter driving tups with UJS. drivers. Winter driving problems are an area Easton knows well. He served for many years as chairman chair-man of the National Safety Council's Coun-cil's Committee on Winter Driving Driv-ing Hazards and has participated in its annual test programs since 1947. Unitl recently, he has been director of the University of Wisconsin's Motor Vehicle Research Laboratory and is an internationally known consultant on motor vehicle accidents and accident reconstruction. InSept-ember InSept-ember he returned from East Java, Indonesia, where he was involved with analysis of motor vehicle accidents and traffic safety. With such a background, there's hardly any type of weather condition that Easton hasn't experienced ex-perienced first hand. In Easton's words, "Engine tune-ups and good vehicle maintenance main-tenance can be critical factors in getting through the winter months without mechanical failures fail-ures that can lead to traffic jams and accidents. "First and most importantly, have your engine tuned by a competent com-petent mechanic. A tune-up should include inspection of the electrical system, timing, points, plugs and the emission control devices on late model cars. This will reduce fuel consumption, while at the same time assure dependable starting at low temperatures and fewer stalls in traffic. For a complete safety check, include inspection of the braking, steering, suspension, lighting and cooling system." In addition to the safety check, Easton urged drivers to also heed the following equipment recommendations recom-mendations that have been developed de-veloped by the National Safety Council's Committee on Winter Driving Hazards. Heater - defroster system-must system-must clear fog and frost off your windshield rapidly and keep it clear. If not functioning i These Are the Only R It If Requires properly, check the thermostat or adjustments to the control mechanism. Your check should also include the rear window defroster if your vehicle is equipped with one. Whdshield wipers may have dried out in summer heat. Live replacement blades are inexpensive inex-pensive and do a better job in wiping away slush and snow without with-out streaking. Tiresgood tires are important import-ant all year long, but especially so on snowy and icy pavements. Snow tires provide additional pulling power in loosely packed snow. Studded tires, where legal, improve stopping and pulling ability on ice. Tire chains reinforced tire chains still remain the ultimate traction aid in deep snow or glare ice conditions. Keep them in your trunk for severe weather conditions. Lights must be in perfect working order. Check for and replace burned out bulbs and broken or cracked lenses. Winter Win-ter grime and road salt corrode sockets and reflectors. Clean all light lenses frequently during inclement weather. Brakes the most important item with respect to braking is the type of application. The pumping or "fanning" type of application will permit better steering control. Avoid continuous con-tinuous lock-up of the wheels. On the topic of emergency kits, Easton reminded motorists of the following items: a shovel, a container of sand or rock salt, a tow chain, i battery booster cables, blankets, emergency flares and lights. "Remember," he concluded, "taking the nightmares out of winter driving requires common sense approaches by all drivers proper maintenance and planning today to head off tomorrow's driving dangers." High level careers for women abound in the Veterans Administration. Admini-stration. For example, four women are directors of VA hospitals, hos-pitals, six others are assistant directors and four others serve as hospital chiefs of staff. CHRISTMAS CARDS you'll need for all your DOUBLE BARREL SERVICE 2 CARDS WITH PHOTO ID AND CHECK GUARANTEE ON THE BACK OF EACH We wish the best of the HOLIDAY SEASON to you and yours... J $J, L-it I I The Chauntenettes, lead by Mrs. Clyde Weeks, entertained the Orem Lions Club at their annual Christmas Party. The group entertains throughout the Imm Anxiety Program Help Students Anxiety is a learned response acquired from years of negative experience, according tpUniver- sity of Utah psychologist Ron Spinelli. "It isn't any deep-seated psychological psy-chological problem and can be unlearned by specific proceduresbasically pro-ceduresbasically deep muscle relaxation and mental imagery,' says Spinelli, who heads an exam- anxiety reduction program at the U counseling center. Spinelli works with small groups of students to show them how to unlearn their fearful response re-sponse to impending exams. They also learn to deal with anxiety in daily life and to fashion a more positive attitude. Success breeds success, he says, and students leave the counseling center with a better sense of self-control. The sessions ses-sions help them in many areas of academic life, whether it's speechmaking or class presentations. presenta-tions. In the program, students first relax in comfortable recliners, eyes closed, Leads back. Then by concentrating on specific muscle groups in succession-arms, succession-arms, neck, shoulders they gradually reduce tension. At this point, the counselor asks them to imagine an exam situation. "Typically, that might be sitting at a desk in a class holiday purchases. cb i i central bonk & trut Orem-Geneva Times rr. : Relax waiting" for the test to be passed out," Spinelli says. As they actually "see" the tests in front of them, anxiety begins creeping into their minds, he explains. "They then must call forth their relaxation again." Once the procedure is learned relaxation usually can be induced in-duced at will through a signal, such as a deep breath. Consequently, says Spinelli, students, "learn to associate calm with the test itself in their imagination. This makes it easier to achieve a tranquil mood Allen's CI In Orem Wishes to thank all customers for their patronage and wish all a Merry Christmas rillMt . ,. December 15, 1977 '- community. Lions numbered 75 during a gift exchange at the Pavlova Restaurant. Res-taurant. Snowflakes decorated the festivities fes-tivities and the group's program consisted con-sisted of Christmas songs. when they face a real test situation. situa-tion. In fact, they learn to call forth the feeling of relaxation whenever needed. "Students must realize they are not simply at the mercy of their feelings," says the U psychologist. "Gaining control of one's thinking is a powerful approach to stress." But he doesn't believe in removing re-moving all stress, because motivation moti-vation may suffer. "Although grades are an important im-portant factor in education, they help us overlearn a fear response," re-sponse," Spinelli says. "Memory blocks are really just lapses due to pressure. Once relaxation is learned, memory returns. GGiiG i to rs |