There are more than one million motor vehicles
stolen in the United States each year worth an
estimated eight billion dollars. National motor
vehicle theft rates decreased during the
1990s but have been climbing in the new
millennium. This study examines rising motor vehicle
theft and the effects of ecological change over a
decade (1990-2001) in a medium size Midwestern
city. The study employs both a series of two-wave
cross-sectional analyses and a series of
longitudinal lagged ecological effects analyses to
study the impacts of community structure on motor
vehicle theft. The study addresses three specific
shortcomings in the exitant literature: 1)reliance
on relatively large units of analysis; 2)prevalence
of single-wave cross-sectional designs; 3)and use of
macro level data to explain micro level community
processes derived from a limited number of
theoretical perspectives. The research utilizes two
unique sources of data: police department records of
motor vehicle thefts, and the 1990 and 2000
decennial censuses. Regression analyses are used to
identify predictors of motor vehicle theft.
stolen in the United States each year worth an
estimated eight billion dollars. National motor
vehicle theft rates decreased during the
1990s but have been climbing in the new
millennium. This study examines rising motor vehicle
theft and the effects of ecological change over a
decade (1990-2001) in a medium size Midwestern
city. The study employs both a series of two-wave
cross-sectional analyses and a series of
longitudinal lagged ecological effects analyses to
study the impacts of community structure on motor
vehicle theft. The study addresses three specific
shortcomings in the exitant literature: 1)reliance
on relatively large units of analysis; 2)prevalence
of single-wave cross-sectional designs; 3)and use of
macro level data to explain micro level community
processes derived from a limited number of
theoretical perspectives. The research utilizes two
unique sources of data: police department records of
motor vehicle thefts, and the 1990 and 2000
decennial censuses. Regression analyses are used to
identify predictors of motor vehicle theft.