Firesetters

Boise County has indicted a young lady for intentionally starting a brushfire some months back, using a can of spray paint a lighter.  The article in the Idaho World mentioned a $250,000 bond and the judge's concern for her mental health.  Her picture did not look good, so I looked up what I could find on this subject.

Results: Firesetters were significantly more likely to have been registered with psychiatric services (37%) compared with other offenders (29.3%) and community controls (8.7%). The firesetters were also more likely to have utilised a diverse range of public mental health services. Firesetters attracted psychiatric diagnoses more often than community controls and other offenders, particularly affective, substance use, and personality disorders.

Abstract

4 TYPES OF ARSON ARE RECOGNIZED: FOR PROFIT, TO COVER UP CRIME, FOR REVENGE, AND PYROMANIA. PYROMANIA IS THE 2ND MOST PROMINENT MOTIVE; 70% OF ARSONISTS ARE EITHER PSYCHOTIC OR MENTALLY DEFECTIVE, MANY OF THEM SCHIZOPHRENIC. ALCOHOLISM MAY ALSO BE RELATED TO FIRESETTING. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)