Adolescent Firesetters: Findings from an Analysis of 47 Cases

This paper reports a study of 47 young people, 35 boys (mean age 15.62 years) and 12 girls (mean age 15.41 years), detained in a secure residential facility following incidences of firesetting. It was found that these young people had experienced extremely chaotic childhoods, including high levels of disruption to family life and education. However, there was a low incidence of formally diagnosed psychiatric disorder in the sample. In addition to firesetting, most of the young people had committed a number of other offences. It is suggested that these findings present a backdrop for a more detailed study of the characteristics of young people who set fires.