Conspicuous Firesetting in Children

The records of 79 children whose firesetting led to referral to a Children's Hearing (the Scottish equivalent of a juvenile court) were examined. All but one of the children were boys. They had very disturbed backgrounds, with much family disruption and absent or unemployed fathers. Firesetting was predominantly a group activity and the damage caused was extensive. Although the children frequently engaged in other offences, in over 90 per cent there was no recurrence of reported firesetting within the limited period of possible follow-up.