Adult Deliberate Firesetting. Theresa A. Gannon

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СКАЧАТЬ period in Sweden. While men appear to set deliberate fires at a higher rate than women, women appear to account for a higher proportion of those convicted of firesetting than they do of people convicted of other offences (Ducat et al., 2013a). To date, research appears only to have examined firesetting and gender using a male–female dichotomy.

      There is little clear evidence that ethnicity meaningfully intersects with whether people set fires. Using nationally representative self-reported US data, lifetime firesetting was reported less frequently by Black, Hispanic, and Asian participants than by non-Hispanic white participants (Blanco et al., 2010). However, this dataset (the NESARC study; see also Hoertel et al., 2011; Vaughn et al., 2010) is one of few sources of prevalence statistics using nationally representative data. Another US representative study of adolescents also indicated that self-reported firesetting was more common among white participants than participants of other ethnicities (Chen et al., 2003). However, the dearth of comparable non-US literature presents a challenge in generalising any ethnicity difference in self-reported firesetting prevalence to other jurisdictions. Dickens and Sugarman (2012) concluded that the ethnicity of individuals who set fires in existing clinical studies is broadly comparable to the population from which they are drawn. For example, Gannon (2010) suggested that women who set fires were characterised by white ethnicity. However, this was consistent with individuals apprehended for other offences in the small sample studies she relied on and likely matched the general population in those jurisdictions.

The population of apprehended adults who set fires appear to be more likely than non–justice-involved individuals to experience greater socioeconomic disadvantage and have lower educational attainment, as well as lower rates of skilled employment (for a review, see Gannon & Pina, 2010). Based on a small number of studies that compared people who set fires to other apprehended individuals, individuals with a history of firesetting appear to have lower attainment in terms of education (Räsänen et al., 1995) and employment (Ducat et al., 2013a; Räsänen et al., 1995). However, when we look at the NESARC data on self-reported firesetting in the US population, it appears that individuals who had set fires were not characterised by sociodemographic differences compared with the wider community (Blanco et al., 2010; Vaughn et al., 2010). Split by gender (Hoertel et al., 2011), these same data suggest that men who set fires had higher levels of education on average than those who had not set fires. Across three UK studies, Barrowcliffe and Gannon (2015, 2016; Gannon & Barrowcliffe, 2012) found no clear evidence of sociodemographic differences between individuals reporting firesetting for which they had not been apprehended and people who did not report firesetting.

      The current literature is very limited in scope in terms of its examination of the sociodemographic characteristics of adults who set fires. However, based on what is currently available, adults who set fires do not appear to differ profoundly from the rest of the population apart from a clear predominance of men, a potentially higher prevalence among white individuals, and lower socio-economic status and educational attainment. Further research is needed that compares appropriate samples of adults who set fires to other justice involved individuals on basic demographic variables.

      Developmental Context

      Early factors—including genetic, biological, neurodevelopmental, and experiential factors—have been variously hypothesised as distal causal factors in adult firesetting. The results of Swedish population research (Frisell et al., 2011) suggests that there are genetic or early developmental influences on the commission of arson among those aged 15 years or older. To our knowledge, little additional research has been carried out to further determine the specific mechanisms through which genes may act on the psychological processes underpinning firesetting behaviour.

      Research on neurobiological factors in firesetting has not advanced considerably since a review by Gannon and Pina (2010). Among the most promising research on the neurobiology of firesetting was research by Virkkunen and colleagues that implicated a role for certain neurotransmitters in distinguishing between people apprehended for arson and other offending groups as well as in predicting recidivism among people apprehended for arson (Virkkunen et al., 1987, 1989). Specifically examining the evidence of neurobiological characteristics for individuals who have set fires and have a mental disorder, Tyler and Gannon (2012) concluded that the literature is reliant on case studies or very small samples, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn.

Low IQ has been historically associated with adult firesetting. Nanayakkara et al. (2015) summarised the available evidence, concluding that while high rates of intellectual disability appeared to characterise some samples of individuals who have set fires, low IQ does not necessarily distinguish individuals who have set fires from other justice-involved individuals. A meta-analysis of four studies (predominantly adult samples) found that rates of intellectual disability among individuals with a history of firesetting appear to be less than 5% (Sambrooks et al., 2021; see also Collins et al., 2021 for a systematic review that also reports autism prevalence).

      Gannon and Pina (2010) drew together literature suggesting that the developmental backgrounds of individuals who set fires are characterised by adversity. Specifically, they identified research (e.g., Bradford, 1982; McCarty & McMahon, 2005) implicating larger families, parental neglect, and sexual and physical abuse as factors differentiating young people and adults who set fires from other justice-involved individuals or from the wider population. In the decade since their review, very little research has examined whether the developmental experiences of people who set fires are markedly different to other groups. One exception is a paper by Ducat et al. (2013a), which compared a sample of men and women with convictions for firesetting offences with case files of randomly selected convicted individuals without firesetting histories. Both groups were characterised by childhood adversity but did not appear to differ meaningfully from one another. It is worth noting that there may be within-group variability in childhood adversity for people who have set fires, evidenced by the finding that individuals who set multiple fires may be characterised by greater physical and sexual abuse in childhood (Bell et al., 2018).

      Taken together, the early lives of people who set deliberate fires in adulthood appear to be characterised by biological and experiential factors that differentiate them from the population of people who do not encounter the criminal justice system. There is also tentative evidence that genetic and neurobiological factors may differentiate people who set fires compared with those involved in other forms of criminality. There is less evidence of clear differences between the developmental experiences of people who set fires compared with other justice-involved individuals. Overall, the general picture of the developmental context of firesetting behaviour is of a literature that needs considerable updating with large robust studies.

      Mental Disorder and Psychopathology

      Firesetting behaviour has been consistently linked with mental ill health. The Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (M-TTAF; Gannon et al., 2012) conceptualises mental health as a moderator of the link between causal factors and firesetting. In other words, mental ill health may exacerbate underlying risk factors to make firesetting more likely (see also McEwan & Ducat, 2016). This reflects a departure from some earlier views that presented a more direct, causal link between mental disorder and certain firesetting behaviour (e.g., Prins, 1994). Broadly speaking, the empirical research has focused on specific areas of mental disorder or psychopathology when it comes to a possible role in firesetting—pyromania, personality disorder, disorders involving psychosis, substance misuse, affective or mood disorders, and anxiety disorders.

Pyromania. Pyromania is perhaps the most obvious mental disorder to consider as linked to firesetting behaviour (and likely more causally than as a moderator). It is defined by multiple occasions of deliberate firesetting combined with tension or arousal prior to setting the fire and pleasure, gratification, or relief following setting the fire according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Furthermore, there must be evidence of interest, curiosity, or attraction СКАЧАТЬ