Irrational beliefs of shoplifters.

Shoplifting has become a serious problem for retail merchants and for the criminal justice system. In response to a local court's request for mental health intervention in this problematic area, the Lubbock Regional MHMR Center developed the Shoplifter Offenders Program (SOP), an innovative and novel approach designed to reduce recidivism among convicted adult shoplifters. The principles of Ellis' rational-emotive therapy (RET) served as the conceptual foundation for the intensive, 8-hour psycho-educational group counseling experience (N = 94). Results from the first year of SOP operation are presented, with particular attention paid to the irrational beliefs of shoplifters.