Treatment for firesetters is effective, research shows

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Fire setting by Atwater Village Newbie }
Griffith Park Fire

Research from psychologists shows that male firesetting prisoners can be effectively treated with a pioneering treatment.

In a two-year study involving prisoners at Swaleside and Elmley prisons, researchers from the Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP) in the School of Psychology found overwhelming evidence that their treatment involving cognitive behavioural therapy was effective.

There had previously been no interventions available to treat men who deliberately set fires. The research on the evaluation of the treatment is published in the journal Behaviour, Research and Therapy.

Evaluation of the six-month programme showed that the treatment decreased many of the key problems known to be linked to firesetting behaviour, such as fire interest.

The researchers, led by Professor Theresa Gannon, found that, compared to male firesetter prisoners who did not undertake the cognitive intervention, treated male firesetters substantially reduced their interest in fires and improved in their overall attitudes towards fire and criminal behaviour.

The research further found that although the treatment was effective for a range of firesetting prisoners, it was most effective for those who had the most serious firesetting behavior. Furthermore, the improvements reported appeared to be long-lasting.

The treatment programme, called the Firesetting Intervention Programme for Prisoners, took place at HMPs Swaleside and Elmley from August 2012 to January 2014.

The Kent research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council over a three year period. The other members of the research team were: Dr Caoilte Ó Ciardha, Dr Emma Alleyne, Helen Butler, Harriet Danby, Aparna Kapoor, Tamsin Lovell, Katarina Mozova, Dr Elizabeth Spruin, Tracey Tostevin, and Dr Nichola Tyler.

The paper, entitled Specialist Group Therapy for Psychological Factors Associated with Firesetting: Evidence of a Treatment Effect from a Non-Randomized Trial with Male Prisoners, is published here.