International Perspectives on Child and Youth Firesetting

Nichola Tyler is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology (Australia).Joanna E. Foster is a criminologist who has specialised in child firesetting behaviour for over 23 years and is the Manager Director of fabtic, UK.

• 1.Introduction: Child and Youth Firesetting: “A Common, Costly and Complex Problem”. 2.Culture, Fire Learning, and Fire Use. 3.The Continuum of Fire Use: Humans’ Relationship with Fire. 4.The Changing Ways in which Young People are Exposed to Fire and Its Potential Impact on Fire Misuse. 5.What Sparks Child and Adolescent Firesetting? Aetiological and Developmental Considerations. 6.Characteristics of Youth who Set Fires. 7.School Leaders and their Roles in Perpetuating and/or Reducing Fires set by Students in Kenyan Schools. 8.Primary Prevention Strategies for Reducing the Risk of Youth Firesetting. 9.The Role of Assessments when Working with Children and Teenagers who Set Fires. 10.Risk and Risk Assessment of Firesetting Reoffending. 11.Secondary Prevention Strategies: Fire Safety Education. 12.Tertiary Prevention Strategies: Psycho-Social Intervention for Youth Firesetting. 13.Defensible Decision-Making when Working with Children and Teenagers who Set Fires. 14.Trauma-Informed Practice with Children and Teenagers who Set Fires. 15.Shaming People into Change Doesn’t Work, So What Does? How Restorative Approaches Can Support Young People to Make Different Choices. 16.Advancing Research and Practice for the Prevention of Child and Adolescent Firesetting.

'This outstanding collection represents a significant and timely contribution to the field of child and youth firesetting. Working collectively, the book’s contributors bridge what some would see as the divide between research, policy and practice to evidence how theoretical frameworks can be applied to real-world cases of firesetting.Highlighting the critical importance of interdisciplinary work and offering a grounded foundation of literature for academics and professionals, a compelling feature of the book is its ability to illuminate perspectives from the Global South. In so doing, the book challenges the Eurocentric bias in existing scholarship, unsettles the complacency of established paradigms and widens the reader's lens. The book further invites the reader to critically consider gender, cultural, social and structural forces that shape firesetting across diverse global settings.With a call to action for the continued development of a body of research that strengthens the evidence base for firesetting and identifies ‘what works’ with children and young people who set fires, I have no doubt that scholars, practitioners and policymakers will view this collection as an essential resource: empirically grounded, theoretically rigorous and an unwavering commitment to enhancing the understanding of this area of work, which will no doubt have an impact on future research, training and direct work.Above all, it is evident the contributors have an enduring dedication to improving the outcomes for children and young people who set fires, writing with empathy, compassion and warmth that makes this book a vital, brilliant and highly recommended resource.'Roz Morrison, Associate Professor, School of Applied Social Sciences, De Montfort University.'This work offers a dynamic and thought-provoking exploration into a unique social and psychological phenomenon that results in thousands of children and youth placing themselves and their communities at substantial risk of injury and loss. “International Perspectives on Child and Youth Firesetting” provides several new perspectives to this gnawing issue while reinforcing the solid research presented with insights from frontline practitioners and clinicians. This body of evidence explores firesetting in the context of a continuum, of association with developmental milestones, pathology, and as affected by adverse childhood experiences including severe physical and emotional deprivation. Most importantly, it properly denotes youth firesetting as a worldwide issue clearly affected by social and community development and the cultural, financial, and social inequities contained within.As a juvenile justice administrator, volunteer firefighter, fire safety educator and fire service instructor for nearly forty years, I have worked with several hundred families impacted by youth firesetting and I am acutely aware of society’s wish to label and dismiss this behaviour as a phase. I have also had the good fortune to be trained by and work with many of the experts cited in this book. As such I consider this work a “must read” for anyone wishing to truly understand child and youth firesetting and for all child/adolescent mental health practitioners, fire service personnel and senior managers, and those astute enough to begin or continue research in this crucial field.'Joseph “Joe” Ehrhardt, Juvenile Justice Administrator and National Fire Academy (USA) Contracted Instructor (Ret.).