Firesetting in Children and Youth (From Handbook of Psychological Approaches With Violent Offenders: Contemporary Strategies and Issues, P 95-115, 1999, Vincent B. Van Hasselt and Michel Hersen, eds. -- See NCJ-179662)

• NCJ Number: 179664
• Author(s): David J. Kolko
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH-39976
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Sale Source: Kluwer Academic Publishers
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In discussing firesetting by children and youth, this chapter addresses screening and classification, clinical characteristics and correlates of child firesetting, and intervention and treatment.

Abstract

Multidisciplinary collaboration in the administration of services for firesetting youth has become an important advance in this area and, in recent years, has become more the rule than the exception. This is due, in part, to the accumulation of evidence that suggests the relevance of fire safety and mental health considerations in understanding the problem of juvenile firesetting and to the recognition of the roles being played by professionals in the juvenile justice, burn care, and other medical, educational, and social service systems. At the same time, there is a need to expand the scope and comprehensiveness of intervention programs in this area as well as the level of regional support and resources received by various programs to ensure their long-term viability. Although it is too early to develop a clinical pathway in this area, one approach is to consider how the following intervention components could be organized and then invoked based on screening and evaluation findings: brief fire brochure on the dangers of fire; training in fire safety and prevention skills; parental management of fire and the use of behavioral consequences; training in cognitive-behavioral skills; parental counseling, family treatment, or both; juvenile justice involvement; restitution; and hospitalization or residential program. Relevant multidisciplinary information should be disseminated to professionals working with any aspect of the childhood firesetting problem. There is also a need to better understand the nature of firesetting in children and youth. Further, there is a need to explore the impact of services on children's contact with and use of fire as well as their level of behavioral dysfunction. Another area worth exploring is the development of methods to minimize children's heightened attraction to and interest in fire. 5 tables and 91 references