NCJ Number
178366
Journal
Child Welfare Volume: 78 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 1999 Pages: 411-434
Date Published
1999
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study compared a group of 75 severe firesetters with a group of 105 nonfiresetters and minor firesetters along 32 variables that have been positively correlated with juvenile firesetting behavior.
Abstract
"Severe firesetting" was defined as "deliberate, planned and persistent behavior." "Minor" or "nonsevere firesetting" was defined as "accidental or occasional firestarting behavior by unsupervised children, who, for example, were playing with matches or lighters or setting small fires out of curiosity or in an attempt to gain parental attention." The study sample consisted of 180 children and adolescents who were living apart from their families in a variety of residential settings. Psychological test data, psychiatric evaluations, and social histories of the total sample were examined for the presence or absence of 30 qualitative and quantitative variables that have been associated with firesetting or nonfiresetting behavior in the clinical research literature. For each subject, a complete standard test battery was administered. Chi-square statistics were calculated, comparing expected versus actual frequencies in the minor and severe groups for each of the 30 study variables. Seventeen variables differentiated clearly between groups of "nonfiresetters" and "severe" firesetters. Among these variables were "strong feelings of anger at maternal rejection, neglect, or abandonment"; "engages in power struggles with adults, is rebellious, oppositional, defiant"; "fantasies of revenge or retaliation"; and "inadequate superego development." A prediction equation was derived from the 14 most salient variables. This equation can be used to differentiate severe/high-risk from minor/low-risk firesetters 95 percent of the time. 4 tables and 33 references