Kleptomania (Gr. kleptō, 'I steal'). Among the phenomena of certain minds that are not regarded as technically insane or criminal are observed inordinate tendencies to acquire, to collect, and to hoard. All young children desire and will at once appropriate whatever they fancy. So long as such impulses do not interfere with the rights and property of others, or involve a flagrant breach of law, they are readily admitted as an indication of disease, or as an absurdity and eccentricity which may help to consign the individual to an asylum or to contempt, but concern no one else. But whenever the amount of the object appropriated, or the circumstances under which it is purloined, bring the matter into a court of law, the act is treated as a theft. Such conduct is often the result of disease; it is rarely a disease by itself. The inclination to steal is a premonitory indication of some forms of mental disorder: it is a characteristic symptom of many others, where violence, or delusion, or incoherence leaves no doubt as to the source from which it springs. But there are other cases in which the morbid origin cannot be so clearly demonstrated—where the mind is clear and cogent, the morals pure, and where theft is almost the only proof of insanity. There is evidence in favour of the opinion that the propensity to steal may become so irresistible, and the will so impotent, that the appropriation is involuntary, and the perpetrator irresponsible. It then forms one of the varieties of insanity (see the article INSANITY) characterised by defective inhibition. The gratification of the impulse is commonly found associated with physical changes and conditions which may be regarded as incompatible with the healthy discharge of the functions of the nervous system; but that connection is not invariable, and the best mode of establishing the reality of such a disease is to consider marked cases in relation to the character, interests, and previous deportment of the individual, to the nature of the articles taken, and to the motives. A baronet of large fortune stole, while on the Continent, pieces of old iron and of broken crockery. A clergyman of great usefulness abstracted from book-shops and stalls hundreds of copies of the Bible. The objects are often stolen ostentatiously, or without any adequate precautions to conceal the attempt; they are often of no value; the act is without motive, promptly and spontaneously avowed, and, if overlooked, repeated. The article acquired is restored, or disregarded; and although money is rarely taken, bright and coloured objects most generally excite cupidity.
See Bucknill and Tuke, Psychological Medicine (1853); Clouston, Mental Diseases (2d ed. 1887).