(Prins, Fire-Raising)
The increase in juvenile crime related arson is particularly troubling. One theory suggest that undiagnosed and untreated conduct disorder in early childhood may be the progenitors in the creation of an arsonist:
From a diagnostic perspective, firesetting is a strong predictor of the continuation of conduct disorder and, in field trials, was found to be the fourth most discriminating behavior for this diagnosis among 14 diagnostic criteria, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. On clinical measures, psychiatrically referred firesetters have been found to exhibit more pronounced delinquent and hyperactive behaviors more extreme externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression) associated with conduct disorder, fewer internalizing symptoms and less social skill than their nonfiresetting peers, although some studies have not reported differences in aggression or general psychopathology (Kolko 191)
However, it has been noted that many children who have started fires do not always show any signs of significant disturbance or other emotional trauma. Often they have simply been motivated by curiosity. Several studies have indicated that in crimes involving young children less than twelve years of age, more than sixty percent of these have been found to only have been experimenting with fire (Grolnick, Cole, Laurenitis, and Schwartzman). In light of this information several initiatives have been engaged to correct these early childhood interest in firesetting.
Fire safety education (FSE) and cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) are perhaps the most common approaches to intervention with firesetting children and their families (Kolko, 2002a). FSE generally seeks to address the child's experience with, exposure to, and interest in fire, through instruction and practice in safety skills (e.g., Pinsonneault, 2002). In contrast, CBT frequently involves targeting individual forms of behavioral dysfunction and environmental conditions by enhancing prosocial skills and parent -- child relationships (Kolko, Herschell, and Scharf)
Early intervention is certainly one of the keys to prevention. Left untreated, these curious children may develop conduct disorder habits that will lead them to experiment further with the tool of fire.
In adolescence these firesetters have set down behavior patterns that are much more complex to discern no less deconstruct. By this time the adolescent arsonist uses fire as a means to express misdirected anger and boredom leading from a lack of emotional impulse control and receiving the wrong attention when younger in regards to the firesetting activity. In this group different issues, both psychological and even biological, may need to be addressed regarding intervention (Lambie, Mccardle, and Coleman). While debatable, the serial arsonist and his or her anti-social traits may stem from traumatic a childhood:
When we examine youngsters who have been truants or who have been in trouble with the police for thefts or disorderly conduct, we frequently find an intimate relationship between their antisocial or criminal manifestations and their emotional and mental conflicts. We also find this intimate relationship in the neurotic person who commits a crime because of unconscious guilt feelings which make him crave punishment. The criminogenic factors in arson and kleptomania too are undoubtedly allied to the emotional or mental abnormality of the offender, having their roots in the sensation of a thrill, which is sexual in nature. (Abrahamsen 109)
However, the psychopathology of an adult arson usually includes an unstable childhood and often severe psychological disturbances. These certainly can be the precursors of many different posttraumatic maladies including conduct disorder and anti-social personality disorder. In a child who has discovered firesetting as one way to express himself or herself, the adult seeking revenge can be a dangerous criminal, seeking retribution for either real or imagined wrongs (Prins, Offenders).
The first steps in categorizing a fire as arson are often compromised by fire officials and law enforcement units that have not been professionally trained in detecting arson. These units may mistakenly rule that a fire is not caused by arson, while a trained investigator may spot evidence even in the worst of crime scenes. More and more local police and even volunteer fire companies are being trained in detecting...
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