A major question faced by those who wish to understand criminal behavior is why and how the decision to commit a crime is made. The explanations offered by various scholars and the paradigms they represent have grown into full fledged schools of thought: labeling, economic rationality, and social control and deterrence to name three. This behavior is examined in the light of three conflicting theoretical orientations and the paradigms they represent. The ways in which this conflict is more apparent than real is exposed to permit comparison of the power of each theoretical orientation in the explanation of shoplifting behavior. Parallel tests of the data are made for each of the three perspectives. Finally, in the light of these tests ways to exploit the complementarity of these theories is explored and a unified theoretical form of explanation is developed. Each of these theories is considered in turn and any work done within each perspective on shoplifting is noted. (Publisher abstract)