My son stole from my parents many yrs ago. My dad did not press charges because my mom cried & begged him not to. You know what that taught my son, that he could do what he wants whenever....................my son will be 42 in Sept & still hasn't learned a thing.
In this life there are consequences for your actions. If your nephew stole from strangers they would press charges & he would learn something.
As someone above said at least while in jail they have 3 hots & a cot. Better for an addict to be in jail than out on the street where they could overdose or get their brains blown out in a bad drug deal. Whenever my son is incarcerated I breathe a sigh of relief.