Arson: From Creation to Destruction (From The Victimology Handbook: Research Findings, Treatment, and Public Policy, P 147-157, 1990, Emilio Viano, ed. -- See NCJ-126951)

• NCJ Number: 126962
• Author(s): I Kaufman
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Garland Publishing, Inc.
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a review of arson literature, this study examines incidence; developmental diagnosis including libidinal and aggressive drives; thought processes and fantasies; family interaction; male and female arsonists; and implications for treatment and prevention.

Abstract

Wooden (1985) reports that the United States has the highest rate of arson in the world, and arson is the fastest growing crime. Recurring components of diagnosis are a consuming oral need to be nurtured, a fear of consuming-engulfing or being consumed, and a view of fire as consuming what it burns. Regarding thought processes and fantasies, arsonists tend to operate at a primitive oral, life, death, creation, and destruction level of fantasies. Arson, like other violent behaviors, often reflects shared family pathology. Both boys and girls use fire as an expression of an outwardly directed act of aggression. Treatment should include the individual and the family whenever possible. The arsonist's deep longing for nurturance and the accompanying rage at being emotionally deprived and devalued pose the complex treatment problem. The arsonist requires a lengthy period of restitution, caring, constancy, and limit-setting to fill developmental gaps. Efforts to define and identify potential arsonists hold promise for arson prevention. 18-item bibliography