NCJ Number
238090
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2012 Pages: 105-122
Date Published
February 2012
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study's aims were to determine the prevalence of self-reported deliberate firesetting and to develop two separate measures for assessing, respectively, the antisocial and fire-interest factors associated with firesetters' propensity to be attracted to, aroused by, behaviorally inclined, and antisocially motivated to start fires.
Abstract
Of 158 participants (49 male and 109 females) in the first of two study phases, 11 percent (n=18) self-reported deliberately setting a fire. These individuals were similar to non-firesetters on basic demographics, although firesetters reported more behavioral problems and previous convictions for vandalism-associated offenses. In the study's second phase, the Fire-Setting and Fire-Proclivity Scales developed for this study were administered to 150 of the 158 participants in the first phase. Both scales showed good psychometric properties and distinguished between self-reported firesetters and non-firesetters; however, only one subscale of the Fire-Proclivity Scale - the behavioral propensity index - was significant in the discriminant function analysis that correctly classified participants at an overall rate of 91 percent. The authors concluded that the two new scales show promise for detecting factors associated with firesetting, so they may be useful for detecting individuals who require preventative firesetting intervention, as well as measuring clinical need and intervention impact associated with firesetters in secure settings. Study participants were recruited through a combination of university and community forums, the University Research Participation Scheme in the United Kingdom, and snowballing techniques. The 20-item Fire-Setting Scale was developed using empirical literature reviews that highlighted factors empirically related to detected adolescent and adult firesetters. The Fire-Proclivity Scale, which assesses a person's propensity to engage in firesetting, used a combination of Bohner et al.'s (1998) Rape Proclivity Scale and the authors' own knowledge of the general firesetting literature. 2 tables, 45 references, and appended items from the 2 scales