An Examination of Risk Factors and Dangerousness associated with Firesetters

The main issue addressed within this thesis was the exploration of risk factors and dangerousness associated with firesetters. Research surrounding firesetters is sparse, and of poor quality. As a result, the risk assessment process offered to firesetters in clinical practice lacks empirical evidence. Two research studies and a systematic review provide a series of novel contributions to the field of firesetting. Study 1 identified several dynamic risk factors that were able to predict female mentally disordered firesetters. Study 2 examined conceptualizations of firesetting dangerousness. Finally, this thesis puts forward the first universal empirically based conceptualization of firesetting dangerousness. The resultant term represents a multifactorial consideration of three domains. These include: (1) motive/intent of the individual firesetter, (2) the context within which the fire has been set and (3) cognitions of the individual firesetter. More practically these are referred to as the why, what, and where/when considerations of firesetting. The combined impact of all three domains, provides a universal conceptualization of firesetting dangerousness which can be used to quantify dangerousness levels for incidents of firesetting. This thesis concludes with a discussion of the clinical application of this novel information, and how it can be used to improve rehabilitation processes.