Motivation and crime scene behavior in Korean fire setting: a new typology

PurposeEarly classification systems of fire setting have suffered from several limitations, including the lack of empirical validation and the focus mainly on the offender motivation behind this type of crime. More recent research shows that looking at the crime scene behaviors may present a more fruitful approach for helping to solve fire setting offenses. The purpose of this study is to advance current scholarship by developing a new typology of fire setting based on the combination of offender motive and crime scene behaviors.Design/methodology/approachLatent class analyses were used with a sample of 134 fire setters who committed 275 arsons from the Korean National Police Agency to identify distinct fire setter motivations and crime scene contexts. Chi-square and crosstabulation analysis were then conducted to determine whether crime scene behaviors were associated with distinct offender motives and vice versa. Lastly, to improve the external validity of each of the latent classes, chi-square analyses were performed using variables related to the fire setters' criminal history, sociodemographic characteristics and arson classification.FindingsFive motive subtypes were identified as well as five distinct crime scene contexts in which serial fire setting occurs. A significant association among these classes suggests that it is possible to infer fire setters’ motive from crime scene behavior and vice versa.Originality/valueThis comprehensive typology of fire setters has potential for profiling of unknown offenders as well as for suspect prioritization in police investigations.

Retrospective Study of Fire Setting Among Boys in a Child Welfare Sample

This study aimed to assess fire-setting behaviors within a child welfare sample. The youth were divided into four groups based on their fire-setting behavior (e.g., no incidents, one incident, multiple minor incidents, and multiple severe incidents). Groups were compared based on five factors: overt antisocial behavior, covert antisocial behavior, global adjustment, psychiatric history, and learning deficits. Fire setters displayed more delinquent behavior and had more extensive psychiatric histories than non-fire-setting youth. Further, the youth with multiple serious incidents of fire-setting behavior displayed more delinquent behavior and had more extensive psychiatric histories than any of the fire-setting groups. These findings clearly suggest that fire setters, as a group, are not homogeneous with respect to antisocial behavior or psychiatric impairment and that gravity of fire setting increased as a function of greater psychopathology and greater delinquency when compared to their peers.

Fire-setting and psychopathology: a brief overview of prevalence, pathways and assessment

Purpose There is increasing attention on investigating the association between fire-setting and psychopathology and also the degree to which fire-setting is a manifestation of mental disorder. Despite the actual prevalence of pyromania remaining elusive, there is growing evidence in the literature highlighting the higher rates of psychiatric mental health disorders in fire-setters, the most common being: schizophrenia, mood disorders (such as anxiety and depression), personality disorders, alcohol abuse and intellectual disability. The purpose of this paper is to highlight more recent work on prevalence, pathways and assessment in offenders who have engaged in fire-setting. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an overview of the literature on fire-setting and psychopathology with a focus on prevalence, pathways and assessment. Findings This review identified key literature which has identified a variety of distinct pathways to fire-setting and also highlights two assessments/measures for fire-setters. Such information is useful for clinicians when they encounter this group of offenders. Practical implications This paper has identified in the literature and recommends the use of the “Fire Setting Scale” and the “Fire Proclivity Scale” in clinical and/or forensic practice. Originality/value There is a very real need for additional empirical research in this area. There is also a need for an increased awareness and understanding of how various types of psychopathy can contribute to fire-setting in both a legal and clinical context.