The assessment and treatment of adults who set fires deliberately are underdeveloped relative to other areas of forensic-clinical psychology. From a scientist–practitioner perspective, all clinical assessment and treatment should be guided by a theoretical and empirically based understanding of the presenting clinical phenomena. In this paper, we critically review current typologies, motives, and theories regarding the etiological features of deliberate adult firesetting. Then, using a theory knitting perspective, we synthesize the prime parts of this information into a comprehensive multifactorial framework of deliberate firesetting. The resulting Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (M-TTAF) is an integration of current theory, typological, and research knowledge into a comprehensive etiological theory of firesetting along with its maintenance, and desistence. In addition to this overall theoretical framework, we summarize five associated prototypical firesetting trajectories (or patterns of characteristics leading to the firesetting behavior) that stem from our theoretical work. We examine this new theory according to key evaluative components associated with theory construction and conclude by highlighting the M-TTAF's potential application in future research and practice innovation with adult firesetters.

Recent years have seen an upsurge of attention paid to street gangs as scholars and criminal justice officials strive to understand and counteract the effects of gang membership. Yet, despite a wealth of theoretical frameworks and empirical findings, even fundamental issues such as an agreed definition continue to elude us. We consider some of the most influential theoretical frameworks and associated empirical findings and find that as it stands, our knowledge on gangs is still limited and rather muddy. We suggest that future directions should adopt a more multidisciplinary approach to the study of gangs. To this end, we argue that there is a role for psychology in this important body of work, and that its involvement will provide us with a deeper and more meaningful understanding of gangs and the youth who join them.

Research has noted the existence of a loose and dynamic gang structure. However, the psychological processes that underpin gang membership have only begun to be addressed. This study examined gang members, peripheral youth, and non-gang youth across measures of criminal activity, the importance they attach to status, their levels of moral disengagement, their perceptions of out-group threat, and their attitudes toward authority. Of the seven hundred and ninety eight high school students who participated in this study, 59 were identified as gang members, 75 as peripheral youth and 664 as non-gang youth. Gang members and peripheral youth were more delinquent than non-gang youth overall, however, gang members committed more minor offenses than non-gang youth and peripheral youth committed more violent offenses than non-gang youth. Gang members were more anti-authority than non-gang youth, and both gang and peripheral youth valued social status more than non-gang youth. Gang members were also more likely to blame their victims for their actions and use euphemisms to sanitize their behavior than non-gang youth; whereas peripheral youth were more likely than non-gang youth to displace responsibility onto their superiors. These findings are discussed as they highlight the importance of examining individual differences in the cognitive processes that relate to gang involvement.