AUTO THEFT <i>Offender and Offense Characteristics</i>

Abstract

Abstract Few empirical studies describe auto thieves. The most influential and frequently cited research is that by Wittenberg and Blusterier who characterize auto theft as a “favored‐group” delinquency. The findings of the present study challenge this conclusion. Although the majority of those arrested for auto theft are white. blacks are disproportionately represented; most thieves come from lower‐class neighborhoods: and the distribution of juvenile thieves by fathers’ occupational status does not appear to differ from that of other delinquents. Five types of out theft are suggested; the offender and offense characteristics are empirically examined .