If you were caught shoplifting
and have a charge or court case pending, you have
both personal issues to deal with and a court case
to address.
FIRST, is your personal
issue which relates to your shoplifting and
its impact on your life. This includes understanding
why you shoplifted and how you can address and resolve
the issues or attitudes which led you to shoplift.
To help you prevent the possibility of a future incident,
NASP recommends a course of action and will automatically
link you below to those recommendations.
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SECOND, is your upcoming court case
which must be causing you fear, anxiety and worry because
of the potential consequences related to court penalties,
a criminal record and your future. If you are a repeat offender,
your problem and potential court consequences are greater
and the course of action recommended by NASP is clearly important
for you.
If you are a person who now truly wants to stop shoplifting,
then you must give your lawyer, the prosecutor and the judge
a reason to believe you … because everyone says they
will never do it again. To be convincing, you can demonstrate
that you are taking specific actions to ensure that you will
never shoplift again.
Recommendations
To help yourself, as well as demonstrate your sincerity,
NASP recommends that you participate in as many of the following
programs you possibility can and show your letter(s) of satisfactory
completion to your attorney or the court.
- Enroll in an Educational Program which
you can complete in the privacy of your home. This is
one of the most important things you can do for yourself
because it is a valuable and frequently used national
program. Your letter of satisfactory completion should
instill confidence to all that you are now less likely
to repeat the offense. You can select the Youth Educational
Shoplifting Program (Y.E.S. Program) for juveniles or
the Shoplifters Alternative Course (SA Course) for adults. Click
here to learn more
- Participate in a 60 minute confidential Telephone Coaching
Session and receive professional feedback with recommendations
along with an email verification of your successful completion
for you to present to the court. Click
here to learn more.
- Complete the NASP Self-Assessment online
and print a copy of your personal evaluation with recommendations
to help you understand factors in your life that may have
contributed to your shoplifting. This type of information
may be useful to your attorney for your defense in court.
Click here to learn more.
- Begin psychotherapy and receive a written evaluation
from your therapist. To
get a Referral To A Psychotherapist in
your zip code area click here.
In addition, you can also help yourself by reading articles
or accessing other free services on this NASP National
Self-Help & Support Center.
NASP recognizes that any of these actions to help you prevent
a future incident may encourage the court to give you the
benefit of the doubt related to your case. However, NASP is
not making these recommendations to you for the purpose or
intention of reducing your sentence. Rather, NASP believes
that most people who are willing to take responsibility for
their actions and take steps to ensure that it doesn’t
happen again, deserve a chance to prove they are not a threat
to society and don’t belong in jail.
If you choose to participate in any of these programs, you
will need added time to complete them. Therefore, NASP suggests
that you consult with your attorney about receiving a
time extension for your court case.
As a general rule, it is a good idea to extend the case as
long as possible because it will give you more time to complete
different programs and will show the court that you have not
re-offended over this longer period of time. (Of course, extending
your court case may prolong the agony for you regarding putting
this unpleasant experience behind you, however, NASP believes
this is generally the best course of action in the long run.)
Give yourself every chance to put
shoplifting behind you … forever!
The choice is yours.
If you have a question to ask or comments
to share, please click here to email us.
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