Offender Profiling Series
Profiling
Property Crimes
Edited by David Canter & Laurence Alison (2000)
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Property Crimes
Profiling Property Crimes
Katarina Fritzon
The Contribution of Psychological Research
to Arson Investigation
Most recent research on arson is aimed at identifying
the various motivations underlying the act. This work can be classified
into three general groupings. The first category of research looks at
the characteristics of people who set fires. The second has sought to
create typologies of their motives. A third approach has developed that
has been termed a 'functional analytic' model of firesetting behaviour.
In terms of the practical investigation of arson, relatively little has been done to understand the relationships between the different types of arson and the characteristics of the individuals who are likely to be involved. What has been done has generally evolved out of the FBI work on what has been termed 'offender profiling'. Rather than focusing on what is actually available to an arson investigator, i.e. aspects of the arson crime-scene itself, these attempts generally classify individuals in terms of the supposed underlying motive and then create a 'profile' of that individual based on this inference.
The current chapter firstly examines the two main ways that current psychological research on firesetters can contribute to the investigation of arson. Firstly, the literature on the characteristics of people who set fires allows the identification of the key features of such individuals that distinguish them from people, including other criminals, who do not set fires. Secondly the typologies of motives of firesetters allows the possibility of distinguishing between arsonists themselves. In conclusion, a new approach to arson research is outlined which focuses on the meaning of the firesetting act to the offender and what this can tell us about his or her other likely characteristics.
Katarina Fritzon has a first degree in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen, a Masters in Investigative Psychology from Surrey University, and a PhD from Liverpool University. The title of her PhD thesis was 'Differentiating Arsonists: Fire as a Destructive Action System' and she has also written several papers on arson. The main focus of her work to date has been to develop a classification of styles of firesetting based on the source and target of the act. She has also lectured to Fire Brigades and academic audiences and has assisted police and defence solicitors on arson cases. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Surrey where her other research interests include intrafamilial homicide and offender spatial behaviour.
