Why is my teen-age daughter stealing?...

[DanaC]

Put it another way: if you encountered a young person in a similar situation as you used to be, and they told you they were going to go steal some food, would you say, "Okay, sounds reasonable," or would you counsel them to make the better, more responsible choices that you see now that you could have made?

Well, given how many times I have already stated that I don't consider it a sensible choice and would not take that path were I in that situation again, obviously I'd counsel them against.

I put myself on the other side of the equation more and wonder how I would feel if "that action" was done to me.

Precisely. I put myself in the place of the manager of a large supermarket or the shareholders of the chain and I find it very difficult to imagine that I'd be upset by minor pilfering. I may be annoyed by it. I may find it bothersome. I very much doubt I would feel personally violated. I would, however, if I was burgled.

The few things that I genuinely regret and feel shame for are those things that have affected other people at a much more personal and direct level.

And that, my friends, is the last I intend to say on the subject. I am quite comfortable with who I am and how I got here. I am more than content to be my own judge thankyou.