Responses of Female Fire‐Setters with Mild and Borderline Intellectual Disabilities to a Group Intervention

Abstract

Background This report describes a cognitive behavioural group intervention for women with mild and borderline intellectual disabilities detained in a secure hospital setting because of their fire-setting behaviour. The study aimed to examine participants' motivations for setting fires, their responses to an intervention designed specifically for this group and to monitor their progress over an extended follow-up period. Methods A number of fire-specific and clinical assessments were administered before the intervention started and immediately after it concluded to examine trends in the group data. Detailed case study material was collected in order to describe participants' engagement in and reactions to the treatment process, and their status at 2-year follow-up. ResultsThe intervention successfully engaged participants in the therapy process, all of whom completed the programme. Scores on measures related to fire-related treatment targets and clinical measures pertinent to motivations for fire-setting generally improved following the intervention. There were no reports of participants setting any fires 2 years after the intervention programme was completed. Conclusions The group intervention appeared to be acceptable and beneficial to study participants. This pilot study needs to be extended into a more robust evaluation of this approach with this group.

Arson or fire setting in offenders with intellectual disability: Clinical characteristics, forensic histories, and treatment outcomes

“…The same group of authors (Taylor et al, 2006) reported a study on a group of six women detained in a specialist forensic intellectual disability service in England.…”

“…Taylor, et al, 2006;Devapriam, Raju, Singh, Collacott, & Bhaumik, 2007), less than half of those with a fire setting history had a conviction for arson. This is probably because the blurred dividing line between criminal, and challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disability, which affects the reporting and recording of such behaviour (Holland, Clare, & Mukhopadhyay, 2002).…”

Specialist group therapy for psychological factors associated with firesetting: Evidence of a treatment effect from a non-randomized trial with male prisoners

“…Over the past two decades, a small number of cognitive behavioral treatment packages (CBT) have been developed for use with mentally disordered firesetters (Hall, 1995;Swaffer, Hagget, & Oxley, 2001;Taylor, Thorne, Robertson, & Avery, 2002;Taylor, Robertson, Thorne, Belshaw, & Watson, 2006). However, these represent uncontrolled 'in house' therapy conducted with very small numbers of participants.…”

“…These latter property costs represent only a small amount of those incurred since they do not include some of the wider costs associated with firesetting (firefighting, or health costs or costs associated with wildfire damage). In the UK, there were 53,000 deliberately set fires and 451 fire- Over the past two decades, a small number of cognitive behavioral treatment packages (CBT) have been developed for use with mentally disordered firesetters (Hall, 1995; Swaffer, Hagget, & Oxley, 2001;Taylor, Thorne, Robertson, & Avery, 2002;Taylor, Robertson, Thorne, Belshaw, & Watson, 2006). However, these represent uncontrolled 'in house' therapy conducted with very small numbers of participants.…”

Developing and evaluating interventions for women firesetters in high secure mental healthcare

“…Gannon, Tyler, Barnoux and Pina (2012) noted that the only published descriptions of treatment for female firesetters concerned either tailored treatment for unusual cases or treatment for women in psychiatric facilities using CBT (e.g. Swaffer, Haggett, and Oxley, 2001;Taylor, Thorne, Robertson, and Avery, 2002;Taylor et al, 2006).…”