10 year old son stealing

I have a 10 year old son(middle child) that has been stealing for a couple of years.  The things he steals are not big ie. marbles, shiny things, and now money.  We refer to him as "the magpie" because he loves shiny things and we have done our best to cultivate this desire.  He has a huge box of rocks and coins etc. that he likes to marvel over.  We have been most concerned after we found that he started taking money from my purse.  He doesn't necessarily spend it but he likes to "have" these things.  We have had a muriad of consequences ie. apologies, paying back and many many chores.  One week was particularly bad and at that point we had a sherrif come and talk to him.  We thought this would make an impression but it still is occuring.  He gets good grades, is thoughtful and has many friends, he is in sports and we are a close family but this one behavior really has me stumped.  Any suggestion?


This discussion is related to 10 year old stealing.

[margypops]

Does he do it outside ,steal from others than the Family? Sounds like hes trying to get some or more attention, It is great he collects lovely stones etc and a great Hobby for him,.If he is the Middle child he could feel left out ,does he get the same attention as the others., ask him what he needs the money for and can you give him pocket money instead of him just taking it from your purse.