Variations in the offence actions of deliberate firesetters:A cross-national analysis

Since Canter and Fritzon first introduced their “4D” classification system for arson, many studies have replicated the model with samples of arsonists from around the world. However, scholars have reported differences in the offence actions of arsonists across samples. No study as yet has attempted to statically examine the relevance of these differences. Using multidimensional scaling procedures and two-way chi-square contingency analyses, this study examined whether cross-national differences in arson variables existed between Australian and British arsonists. The results indicated that differences did exist and, furthermore, that differences reflected the environmental characteristics of the country from which each sample was drawn. These findings have important theoretical and clinical implications, particularly for the utility of the “4D” model as an investigatory tool and for the wider arson profiling literature. </jats:p

‘You can tell a victim by the tilt of her head as she walks’: psychopathic personality and social–emotional processing

Much contention and speculation exists regarding the emotional and social skills associated with psychopathic personality, including the idea of a predatory perception. The current study examined the relationship between psychopathic personality and social and emotional processing. The study utilised a quasi-experimental design along with self-report measures to examine psychopathy in a community sample (N = 115) of males and females. To examine psychopathy and social information processing, a series of Mixed Design ANOVA’s were conducted to examine the effect of psychopathy on character recall. Psychopathy was found to significantly predict recall of the unsuccessful character, however, did not predict recall of character gender or emotion. Two hierarchical regressions analyses were conducted to examine emotional intelligence and empathy. Psychopathy was found to be a significant negative predictor of empathy, however, did not significantly predict emotional intelligence. Implications for the current study lie within advancing the empirical understanding on psychopathic personality and victim vulnerability

Investigating the relationship between social support and durable return to work

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between social support and durable return to work (RTW) post occupational injury. A total of 1,179 questionnaires were posted to clients previously receiving vocational rehabilitation services from the Return to Work Assist program in Queensland, Australia. Participants were asked to indicate their current RTW status, in addition to completing questionnaires measuring their relationship with their superior, relationships with colleagues, and social support external to the workplace. The statistical analysis included 110 participants. An ANOVA indicated that participants in the RTW group reported significantly better relationships with their superiors and colleagues than participants in the non-durable RTW group. No significant differences were observed between the RTW, non-durable RTW and no RTW groups on a measure of social support external to the workplace. Although the findings were limited by the low response rate, an evaluation of demographics indicated the respondents were representative of the original target sample. The findings suggested that providing support in the workplace is an important area for intervention and may be a means of increasing durable RTW outcomes.</jats:p

Specialist group therapy for firesetting behaviour: evidence of a treatment effect from a non-randomised pilot trial with male prisoners

Despite huge societal costs associated with firesetting, no standardized therapy has been developed to address this hugely damaging behavior. This study reports the evaluation of the first standardized CBT group designed specifically to target deliberate firesetting in male prisoners (the Firesetting Intervention Programme for Prisoners; FIPP). Fifty-four male prisoners who had set a deliberate fire were referred for FIPP treatment by their prison establishment and psychologically assessed at baseline, immediately post treatment, and three-months post treatment. Prisoners who were treatment eligible yet resided at prison establishments not identified for FIPP treatment were recruited as Treatment as Usual controls and tested at equivalent time-points. Results showed that FIPP participants improved on one of three primary outcomes (i.e., problematic fire interest and associations with fire), and made some improvement on secondary outcomes (i.e., attitudes towards violence and antisocial attitudes) post treatment relative to controls. Most notable gains were made on the primary outcome of fire interest and associations with fire and individuals who gained in this area tended to self-report more serious firesetting behavior. FIPP participants maintained all key improvements at three-month follow up. These outcomes suggest that CBT should be targeted at those holding the most serious firesetting history