Guest editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-12-2019-048 |
| Date | 28 November 2019 |
| Published date | 28 November 2019 |
| Pages | 69-71 |
| Author | John L. Taylor |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Education,Special education/gifted education,Emotional/behavioural disorders |
John L. Taylor
Firesetting has very significant consequences for individuals, communities and the
economy. There were 182,825 fires in the England in 2018–2019, resulting in 253 fatalities
and 7,160 non-fatal casualties, including 3,145 casualties requiring hospital treatment
(Home Office, 2019). In total, 40 per cent (73,214) of these fires were recorded as more
serious and deliberate “primary”fires. As those who set fires for financial or political gain do not
generally come to the attention of health and social care services, the focus of this special issue is
on adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who deliberately set fires in the
context of associated mental health or emotional problems.
Firesetting is a conceptually complex phenomenon. Swaffer et al. (2001) distinguished between
arsonists who are apprehended, charged, and convicted of starting deliberate fires, and
firesetters who have committed acts of arson that have not have resulted in charges being
brought or convictions. Services that work with people with IDD and offending histories
frequently deal with offenders who have committed acts of arson that have not been processed
through the criminal justice system. In categorical diagnostic terms, Pyromania is classified under
“disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders”in DSM-5 (American Psychiatric
Association, 2013). These disorders are characterised by problems with the self-control of
emotions and behaviours. Somewhat confusingly, the defining features of this impulse-control
disorder include “deliberate and purposeful”setting of fires on more than one occasion that may
involve “considerable advance preparation”(p. 476). The DSM-5 definition also includes
fascination and pleasure and gratification associated with setting fires as diagnostic criteria. The
effect of these criteria is to narrow the Pyromania definition and make it unlikely to apply to all but
a very few firesetters. The DSM-5 definition also specifically excludes firesetters with intellectual
disabilities (ID) as a group whose firesetting is a result of impaired judgement.
Gannon and Pina (2010) and Dickens and Sugarman (2012a) have provided a helpful reviews of
the significant literature describing the features of firesetters in terms of their socio-demographic,
developmental, mental health and offending history characteristics. These descriptions may be
of interest to researchers and clinicians, however they do not offer a coherent account of the
aetiology, development and maintenance of firesetting behaviour that provides the basis of a
formulation to guide clinical intervention and management plans.
There have been many attempts to organise information about fire-setters into different schemes
to help our understanding, assessment and treatment of this phenomenon Dickens and
Sugarman, 2012b). Over the years, many authors have offered typologies of firesetters based on
the personal characteristics of perpetrators, their motives for firesetting and other features
such as place of residence (e.g. Geller, 1992; Prins et al., 1985). Motivation for firesetting has
also been the focus of some of the more extensive studies (e.g. Gannon and Pina, 2010,
Inciardi, 1970; Rix, 1994) with anger and revenge emerging as the most prevalent motive for
firesetting amongst adult populations. One limitation of schemes that categorise firesetters or
firesetting behaviour is that they don’t account for the diversity or heterogeneity of firesetter
characteristics, or the complex interaction of dispositional, situational and environmental factors
that can lead to firesetting behaviour.
It has been suggested that people who set fires are characterised by low intellectual functioning
along with othersocial difficulties and psychological problems(e.g. Bradford and Dimmock, 1986).
Despite this apparent association, estimation of the prevalenceof firesetting amongst people with
IDD is difficult for a number of reasons (Taylor and Thorne,2018). Services –particularly forensic
John L. Taylor is based at
the PsychologicalServices,
NorthumbriaUniversity –Coach
Lane Campus, Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-12-2019-048 VOL. 10 NO. 4 2019, pp. 69-71, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824
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JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
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