A former boss told me of a lady in town who was a known shoplifter. Her husband had a deal worked out with the storekeepers to just bill him for anything she stole and not contact authorities. Of course this was a small town in the 50’s so they agreed. You are right, it is probably a compulsive disorder- not excusing it, just explaining why she would take such a risk.
A friend of my parents had the same problem and her husband worked the same deal with local shopkeepers. Again, it was in the 50’s, not so sure how it’d work today. This woman’s husband is a judge in the area, should be interesting to see how it’s handled.
From when I was in the Navy, one of the most popular Protestant Chaplains on base, an LCDR and a weekly contributor to the base newspaper, was arrested for shoplifting.
In fact, he was due in the Base theater to give the Opening Prayer at some kind of award ceremony that afternoon, when suddenly he got the urge to steal a pair of shoes...
Weird...