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Criminal fire-setting: a review and some case studies.
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Edmonton's arson epidemic: February 1980.
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Multi-factorial assessment of hospitalized children who set fires.
The authors examine the incidence of fire setting among hospitalized children according to age, and also compare the characteristics of the fire-setter group to a control group.
A comparison of partner and solo arsonists.
Data on 225 adult arsonists arrested in a metropolitan county over a four-year period were systematically gathered. In each case 83 variables related to the arsonist and the arson were examined. The presence or absence of a partner in crime clearly differentiated two groups of arsonists . Partner and solo arsonists are characterized by a different level of social functioning and a different burden of mental impairment and criminal history. By focusing on the partner variable, it also becomes clear that the characteristics of the offense are related to those of the offender.
Arson in mentally ill and criminal populations.
Two groups of adult arsonists, 27 with mental illness and 23 not considered to be mentally ill, were examined for demographic features, premorbid factors, motives, and family background. Almost half (46%) of the mentally ill arsonists were mentally retarded. A large proportion of the not-mentally-ill group committed arson as a "crime of passion," 33% of which occurred under the influence of alcohol. Both groups reported a high proportion of absent fathers and seriously disturbed family relations. The relationship of these acts to sexual impulses was found to be minimal, a finding that contrasts with case report studies.
Homicide in childhood. Distinguishable patterns of risk related to developmental levels of victims.
To study the characteristics of homicide in childhood, a review was done of the 29 medical examiner-autopsied children under 10 years of age who died under suspicious circumstances in Cook County in the first half of 1981 (17 by homicide, 12 by manner undetermined). Eleven cases occurred in January. The city victims came from neighborhoods characterized by poverty and female-headed households, consistent with the ecological model of child abuse. Eleven victims were infants: seven female, five white. The older victims were increasingly male and black with increasing age. Mean ages differed markedly for different types of injuries, with CNS and miscellaneous injuries typical in infancy, arson and beatings in toddler/preschool ages, and gunshot and pedestrian injuries in the school years. The data suggest that there are three clinically distinguishable types of homicide in childhood--infanticide, fatal child abuse and neglect after infancy, and murder in the community--related to developmental characteristics of the victims.
Psychiatric nursing: restraint & supervision of patients. Case in point: Vattimo v. Lower Bucks Hospital (428 A 2d 765 - PA.).
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Psychiatric assessment on a forensic unit.
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Arson update: a review of the literature on firesetting.
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Evaluation of psychological stress as an investigative tool.
Involuntary physiologic changes are related to psychological stress, and their analysis has broad applications in psychophysiologic and pharmacologic research as well as other fields. Analyzing patterns of significant stress by means of Psychological Stress Evaluation testing provides an accurate assessment of a person's psychological set in a controlled situation.
Violent behaviour by psychiatric patients.
There is no substantial body of evidence to prove that psychiatric patients as a group are more violent than the general population. In determining whether violence is exhibited, the underlying personality of the individual is far more important than the psychiatric illness from which he suffers. Individuals with psychopathic personalities, those who abuse or are dependent on alcohol drugs, and those with pronounced paranoid or sadistic traits may be characterized by aggressive and violent behaviour. There is at present no reliable method of predicting if or when an individual patient will exhibit assaultive behaviour. Psychiatric hospitals, especially in the UK, are characterized more by frequent petty violence than by serious violence. Victims of assaults by patients are often related or known to them an interact with them on a personal level; they may also play a considerable role consciously or otherwise in instigating the assault.
[The role of alcohol in "pyromania" and arson].
The role played by alcohol in pyromania and arson was examined. We had a total of 103 arsonists, 95 of which were men and 8 women. 69 of the offenders had only started one fire, 34 had started more than one. 70 offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arson, 54 were alcoholics altogether. Adults were usually under the influence of alcohol, whereas adolescents were quite often not. Psychotics were generally not under the influence of alcohol. With regard to marital status, married arsonists showed the highest level of alcohol consumption. Offenders who started fires during the night were usually under the influence of alcohol, very drunk or even alcoholics. There were significant connections between the frequency and level of alcohol consumption and the number of previous convictions. Pyromania is classed as some form of psycho infantilism. In adults, it may be found in the form of an alcohol toxic regression in many different psychological disorders. However, it is found most commonly in unstable people with personality disorders.
[Firesetting in attempted suicide].
In the course of 25 years we examined 103 arsonists psychiatrically. In 10 of these cases the firesetting was accompanied by a suicidal attempt, or was inspired by a suicidal motive. These arsonists differ from arsonists with other motives: typically suicidal arsonists are older, have a higher share of women, higher values of psychosocial burden, and different psychiatric diagnoses. Moreover, the fire ist set mainly in the own flat, revenge is seen much more frequently as an accompanying motive, and, typically, suicidally motivated arsonists do set only one single fire. Out of our 10 arsonists, 5 originally had intended to die in the flames but then ran away exasperated or were saved; this combination is termed "self-immolation" in older papers. We suggest the term "suicide in combination with firesetting" for cases, where, after having set a fire, the arsonist tries to commit suicide at a different place and with other means than fire. In 7 cases we found the motive of extended suicide, with taking along the own property; in 2 cases, along with the suicide, also intimates were intended to put to dead. One female arsonist was saved out of the fire and then, after being discharged from the hospital, tried to kill her unfaithful friend. About one half of the suicidally motivated firesetters was alcoholized at the time of their firesetting while 70% of the arsonists with other motives were alcoholized, 4 of the suicidal arsonists were alcoholics altogether, similar to the whole group of arsonists, from which, approximately, one half are alcoholics.
Mentally disordered firesetters.
Research on firesetters suggests that the majority are mentally disordered. Schizophrenics are slightly over-represented but most arsonists are characterised by abnormal personalities. While motives for firesetting are usually mixed, anger and revenge are the commonest. Arsonists tend to be underassertive individuals with poor interpersonal skills who are unable to deal effectively with conflict, anger and frustration. This perhaps explains their choice of fire as a weapon.
[Arson--a disorder of impulse control?].
Reviewing the literature the current knowledge about the motivational basis of arson is discussed. Fire-setters form a heterogenous group; they seem to commit their crimes for different reasons. Some of them are imbecile, some suicidal, and other showed autoaggressive behaviour in the past; sometimes a connection with sexual excitement can be observed. The criteria for the diagnosis "pyromania" used in the classification manuals DSM-III-R and ICD-10 are strict, in order to facilitate an operationalised diagnosis. Most of the fire-settings cannot be classified under this subcategory of "disorders of impulse control". However, impairments of impulse control are typical characteristics in most cases of arson.