Stealing is taking someone's property without permission. Very young children do not understand the concept of personal property. When they see something they want, they simply take it. Young children generally take things for immediate use only, whereas older children will take them "for keeps." Since they have no sense of personal property, young children should not be accused of stealing when they take another person's things without permission. However, the concept of stealing should be explained right from the start, even before the child can understand.

A child must be told repeatedly that taking other people's things is wrong in order to develop an understanding of the broader concept of stealing.
Most children have a basic sense of "mine" and "not mine" by the age of two and can therefore begin to learn respect for other people's possessions. However, a true understanding of the harmful nature of stealing does not begin to develop until about age five to seven.
At this age, children are deterred from stealing mostly by their fear of parental disapproval. Internal motivations of conscience and guilt do not develop until the middle childhood years. Once the recognition of property boundaries develops, stealing becomes an intentional act that must be addressed more deliberately

Children steal for a number of reasons. Young children, or older children who have not developed sufficient self-control, may steal to achieve instant gratification when an object cannot be obtained immediately by honest means. Older children may steal to gain a sense of power, to acquire status with peers who resist authority, to get attention, to take revenge on someone who has hurt them, to alleviate boredom, or to vent unresolved feelings of anger or fear.
Children who steal are often expressing displaced feelings of anxiety , rage, or alienation resulting from a disruption in their life, such as a parent's divorce or remarriage.

People who feel excluded or disconnected from society have fewer qualms about stealing, because they have less sense of respect, trust, or responsibility in relation to the community. They may even purposely steal in retaliation for the pain they feel society has inflicted on them. Studies have shown a direct correlation between stealing and alienation. Community-building programs in U.S. high schools have greatly reduced the incidence of theft by developing a sense of unity among the students and faculty. When a child feels integrated into a community, he or she is more likely to support all members of that community. Stealing becomes less tempting in a mutually supportive environment.

Though children who steal do so for a number of different reasons, stealing should always be treated seriously. If there is an underlying cause, such as unhappiness at home, then resolving the underlying problem usually resolves the stealing behavior, although the stealing itself should never be ignored.
If stealing is accompanied by other problems, such as difficulty interacting with peers or poor grades, it may be a sign of a serious underlying problem.