National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Juvenile Fire Setters

Juvenile Firesetting: A Research Overview

“In a typical year, fires set by children and youth claim the lives of approximately 300 people and destroy more than $300 million worth of property. Children are the predominant victims of these fires, accounting for 85 of every 100 lives lost.”

U.S. Fire Administration, 1997, 2004

This new Juvenile Justice Bulletin outlines existing research and theories related to juvenile firesetting and identifies limitations for the existing research. Recommendations for further research include conducting a national juvenile firesetter survey, constructing a firesetting classification system, and identifying and evaluating promising intervention and treatment programs. 8 page pdf file.

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Firesetting and Animal Cruelty Linked to Poor Parenting
A study by researchers at the University of Hawaii analyzed information provided by 363 mothers and one of their 6-to-12-year-old children as part of a 10-year study into the impact of marital violence on children’s mental health. The results:
Children residing in homes where marital violence prevailed or where the father abused the family pet were more likely to set fires than children residing in homes in which they were not confronted with these behaviors.
Having a father who drank alcohol also increased the odds of firesetting behavior.
Children from violent homes were 2.3 times more likely to be cruel to animals than were those from nonviolent homes.
“Harsh parenting” also significantly increased the likelihood that a child would be cruel to animals.
Children who set fires were 3 times more likely than non-firesetters to be referred to juvenile court and 3.3 times more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.
The authors say that this study shows that firesetting behavior ‘is a statistically significant predictor for juvenile delinquency.” The study appears in the July 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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In an OJJDP Fact Sheet published in January 1997 on Juvenile Firesetting and Arson author Eileen Garry cites these statistics:

	FBI statistics for 1995 show that juveniles accounted for 52 percent of arson arrests. [That's right. More than half of all arson arrests.]
	One-third of those arrested for arson in 1994 were under 15 and nearly seven percent were younger than 10.

Juvenile firesetters fall into three general categories:

	Children under age 7 - generally, fires started by these children are the result of accidents or curiosity.
	Children ages 8 to 12 - Some firesetting is motivated by curiosity or experimentation, but the greater proportion represents underlying psychosocial conflicts.
	Adolescents between 13 and 18 - These youth tend to have a long history of undetected fireplay and firestarting behavior. Current firesetting episodes are usually either the result of psychosocial conflict and turmoil or intentional criminal behavior.

OJJDP and the U.S. Fire Administration jointly funded the National Juvenile Firesetter/Arson Control and Prevention (NJF/ACP) Program. The initiative defined seven components common to effective juvenile firesetter programs:

	program management for coordination and interagency support
	screening and evaluation to identify and evaluate children involved in firesetting
	intervention services to provide primary and early intervention and/or treatment for juveniles
	referrals to link the program with the full range of agencies that might help identify juvenile firesetters or provide services to them and their families.
	Publicity and outreach to raise public awareness
	monitoring to track the program’s identification and treatment of juvenile firesetters
	juvenile justice system component to forge relationships with juvenile justice agencies.

Some U.S. Fire Administration juvenile firesetter resources:

Arson and Juveniles: Responding to the Violence - 1998 review of teen firesetting and interventions. Focuses on adolescent firesetters between 14 and 18. Can be ordered or downloaded at the site.
Operation Extinguish - Program for Juvenile Firesetters and their Families
USFA Juvenile Firesetters Workshop - 2-day training program
Fire Safety and Public Education Resources - a package of safety messages for use by local fire departments, educators community leaders.

Other Internet Resources on Juvenile Firesetting:

Juveniles and Arson - a briefing paper intended for paralegals involved in arson matters. Good overall review of juvenile firesetting, who the firesetters are, why they do it.
SOSFires: Youth Intervention Programs - is a non-profit organization which describes itself as the "most comprehensive site on the Internet for information about child firesetting/juvenile arson." The two papers below are from the SOSFires site:

Community Accountability Conferences: A Vital Addition to Juvenile Firesetting Intervention Programs - a variation on family group conferencing. The child or youth responsible for intentional firesetting and the victims affected by the fire meet face to face.

ADD and Firesetting: The Connection - looks at character traits common among kids with ADD and other learning liabilities and how they can contribute to a child’s interest in fire.
Juvenile Firesetter Resource Guide - Informative and helpful site which includes publications, a listing of counseling centers with their addresses, people and programs state by state, videotapes, web sites, and more.