Young children may also take things as part of their search for an identity. For instance, a child may take his father s watch or his elder brother s favourite video game just because it gives him a sense of belonging. It is not the object in itself that attracts him. He feels that by having something that belongs to his father or brother in some way makes him like them. He has not considered the right and wrong of taking these things.
Guilt develops at a later stage.
Older children and stealing When children from the age of six to adolescence steal, they are definitely aware that what they are doing is not right. By this time, their conscience has developed, as similar behaviour in the past would have been met with parental censure and disapproval. Thus, when children in this age group take something that does not belong to them, they tend to be secretive and furtive. They will usually hide the object they have stolen and probably deny taking it when confronted. It is relatively easy to forgive a younger child for taking what does not belong to him on the grounds that he is unaware of what he is doing.