Plagiarism is a significant problem not only at the college level, but in pre-secondary schools as well. According to the Boston Globe, some colleges are doing something about curtailing wanton copycatting by creating and implementing high-tech detection systems to catch the would be intellectual thief in the act.
I teach a research course to Masters level students in which I emphasize that plagiarism is unacceptable; that whenever you are in doubt, and even when you are not, cite. There is no such thing as over-citing in a student paper. But even that warning does not deter some students from claiming as their own someone else's work.
Just to speculate for a bit (I realize what follows is comprised of broad sweeping generalizations with no basis in actual researched fact) I think the problem stems from an overall societal issue in which laws are often observed in the breach, truth has taken a backseat to expediency and self-interest, and expiation of wrongdoing is a matter of a personal association with a godhead from whom forgiveness is requested -- and somehow granted.
I drive about 40 miles to work on a freeway system in which the speed limit is 55 MPH. If I am not traveling at 75 MPH I am blocking traffic. On the road I travel the law requires one to drive at 55 yet no one actually obeys that law (except during rush hour when there are too many cars on the road and speeds range from full stop to around 40 MPH). The speed limit is observed in the breach. I could list many more examples but, in the need to minimize space I'll stop at one.
As for truth, all we need to do is listen to the speeches of any politician and then observe their actions to see how well their actions match their rhetoric. The most glaring example I can think of is the lies told by President George W. Bush leading up to the war in Iraq, a war in which it seems he was determined to engage. While most lies do not result in the death of anyone, this one has killed thousands of young American men and women.
Of course the final example can be found mainly in Christian theology. Forgiveness is a matter of asking for forgiveness. It is a theology of irresponsibility, one that allows one to sin on Sunday and confess on Monday.
Given the ethical breaches in social norms in the United States, is it any wonder that students choose to cheat?
Read what the Boston Globe has to say about plagiarism.
"Some college students, though, whether lazy, overwhelmed, or cramped for time, are tempted to plagiarize. And in the digital age, with millions of pages of information available with just a few mouse clicks and Google searches, it's relatively simple to steal words, phrases, and ideas. To curb infractions, local colleges have ramped up anti-plagiarism efforts by coaching students on proper practices for citing their sources, better informing them about what plagiarism is, and implementing better detection systems to catch intellectual theft."
Schools set mouse traps for copycats - The Boston Globe:
Also, read what the Chronicle has to say about plagiarism
http://www.ncte.org/pubs/chron/highlights/122871.htm
Scandals and Scoundrels : Seven Cases That Shook the Academy
Convincingly demonstrates that scandals are part of the necessary process of rule making and reinvention rather than a symptom of the bankruptcy of the scientific enterprise. (From Amazon.com's description of Scandals and Scoundrels)
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