Women and Arson: A Demographic Study

Harmon, Ronnie B.; Rosner, Richard; Wiederlight, Melvin

doi:10.1520/jfs11827j

Cited by 33 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…However, the subjects in Harmon, Rosner, and Wiederlight, (1985) had at least one prior criminal offence, usually not for arson but for assault.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They tended to have a history of deliberate self-harm and suicidal ideation (Bourget & Bradford, 1989;Noblett & Nelson, 2001). They often had a history of alcohol or/and drug abuse, and diagnosis of mental disorder (Bourget & Bradford, 1989;Harmon et al, 1985;Taylor et al, 2006). The studies by Bourget and Bradford (1989) and Harmon, Rosner, and Wiederlight (1985) revealed a high prevalence of personality disorder in female arsonists in forensic psychiatric clinics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Offender and crime characteristics of female serial arsonists in Japan

Wachi

Watanabe

Yokota

et al. 2007

Journal Invest Psychology

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“…However, the subjects in Harmon, Rosner, and Wiederlight, (1985) had at least one prior criminal offence, usually not for arson but for assault.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Offender and crime characteristics of female serial arsonists in Japan

Wachi

Watanabe

Yokota

et al. 2007

Journal Invest Psychology

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“…The literature is conflicted in this regard. Although firesetters have appeared to be low academic achievers (Anwar et al, 2011) and more likely to be in unskilled employment when compared to non-firesetting comparison groups (Bradford, 1982), contradictory findings have shown no differences between firesetters and nonfiresetters on academic attainment (Harmon et al, 1985;Stewart, 1993;Vaughn et al, 2010;Wachi et al, 2007). Female firesetters' previous engagement with mental health services was 13 notably more likely than the two other comparison groups.…”

Section: Group Differences In Socio-demographic Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Female Fire-Setters: Gender-Associated Psychological and Psychopathological Features

Alleyne¹,

Gannon

Mozova

et al. 2016

Psychiatry

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Objective: Female firesetters are reported to commit nearly a third of deliberately set fires, yet there are limited studies examining the characteristics that distinguish them from suitable comparison groups. The aim of this study is to compare incarcerated female firesetters with incarcerated male firesetters and female offender controls on psychopathological and psychological features that could be targeted via therapeutic interventions.Method: Sixty-five female firesetters, 128 male firesetters, and 63 female offenders were recruited from the prison estate. Participants completed a battery of validated tools assessing psychiatric traits and psychological characteristics (i.e., inappropriate fire interest, emotion/self-regulation, social competence, self-concept, offense-supportive attitudes, and boredom proneness) highlighted in the existing literature.Results: Major depression and an internal locus of control distinguished female firesetters from male firesetters. Alcohol dependence, serious/problematic fire interest, and more effective anger regulation distinguished female firesetters from the female offender control group.Conclusions: This is the first study to examine differences between female firesetters, male firesetters, and female control offenders on both psychopathological features and psychological traits. These findings highlight the gender-specific and offence-specific needs of female firesetters that clinicians need to consider when implementing programs that ensure client responsivity.

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“…Female firesetters are typically of low-average IQ (Noblett and Nelson, 2001), have low socioeconomic status and are poorly educated (Harmon, Rosner, and Wiederlight, 1985;Stewart, 1993;Tennent, McQuaid, Loughnane, and Hands, 1971;Wachi et al, 2007) and are likely to have experienced attachment difficulties and trauma (Harmon et al, 1985;Puri, Baxter, and Cordess, 1995;Hickle and RoeSepowitz, 2010). These findings are paralleled for women firesetters within the NWS and have important implications for treating women firesetters, such as needing to consider their lack of education and their attachment difficulties in providing treatment.…”

Section: Firesetting In Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Annesley¹,

Davison²,

Colley³

et al. 2017

JFP

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation and evaluation of interventions for women firesetters in high secure mental healthcare at the UK’s National Women’s Service. Design/methodology/approach Two types of Arson treatment programmes for women, one delivered to individuals, the other within a group context, were developed, delivered and evaluated. The evaluation incorporated qualitative and quantitative data, including psychometric measures. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The evaluation evidenced very high engagement with and attendance at treatment programmes, and several post-treatment gains. Participants’ ratings of programmes and qualitative feedback were similarly very positive. The study demonstrated that engaging women firesetters in their treatment is paramount and can be facilitated by consistent boundaries around therapy provision balanced with sensitivity, empathy and flexibility; providing interactive and varied teaching methods; ongoing service user involvement and recognising participants’ achievements; employing a mixed cognitive analytic therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy therapeutic approach; having input from fire service staff; and maintaining organisational support for firesetting interventions. Practical implications In all, 12 key recommendations are made for clinicians considering offering treatment programmes for women firesetters. Originality/value Amid few published papers on treating women firesetters this paper guides forensic clinicians in establishing and delivering interventions for women firesetters.

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Women and Arson: A Demographic Study

Cited by 33 publications

References 9 publications

Offender and crime characteristics of female serial arsonists in Japan

Offender and crime characteristics of female serial arsonists in Japan

Female Fire-Setters: Gender-Associated Psychological and Psychopathological Features

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

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