Why Children and Young People Set Fires - Research Paper Example

Firesetting - why children and young people set fires Introduction: Crime in a society can be defined as the breach of law for which the legal ity of a State is likely to render punishment. It is an act executed for trespassing with the laws and the accused is adjudged. Crime is a self annihilative path. The probable causes of crime are ambiguous and ever-changing. Criminals are not a product of congenital traits but they are a product of the environment by which they are surrounded. One of the major antisocial behaviour is arson in the prevalent time period. It hurts and kills people, devastates properties, and damages neighborhoods. According to the FBI, adolescent firesetters estimated at least 49 per cent or more were taken into custody for arson.  According to 2003 assessment, about 51 per cent of those imprisoned were below 18, nearly 33 per cent were under 15 and 3 per cent were below 10 years. According to researches, most of the normal children have a fascination in fire and approximately 50 per cent are engrossed in fire-play.  For many youths, the attraction to fire leads to adolescent fire-play and firesetting. Although most of the children set fires out of curiosity and not hatred, the damage they cause in terms of economic and human expenses, is factual and devastating.  Adolescent arson and young people-setting fires caused over 300 deaths, 2,000 injuries, and $300 million loss of properties and above 400,000 incidents per annum (Fire setting and Youth, n.d.).   A Brief Literature Review: Sparta and Koocher (2006) assessed firesetting behavior in their paper. According to those firesetting accidents may not necessarily appear to be stimulated by the circumstances that are recommended on an initial analysis of the case matter. In essence, analyzing firesetting behavior must accept a comprehensive chain of data to understand what resulted in the real setting of the fire and to attempt to gather those factors together in elucidating the behavior (Sparta and Koocher, 2006, p.387). Mash and Barkley (2006) had found out that brief interrogations conducted by an expert firefighter are productive in lessening firesetting behavior in pre-juvenile males. But severe cognitive-behavioral and fire-safety education interference are even more productive (Mash and Barkley, 2006, p.203). Part I. The ethical role of the researcher in social scientific investigations: Eventually there has been development of crucial ethical principles that should influence the research attempt. According to the principle of voluntary participation, people should not be compelled into taking part in research. This is particularly appropriate where researchers had previously depended on ‘convict audiences for their subjects such as prisons, universities etc. The need for informed consent is very much associated to voluntary participation. It implies that potential participants of research must be aware of procedures and risks associated with research and must approve to participate. Ethical guidelines also include that researchers would not put participants in a position where they might encounter risk of harm due to participation. The harm can be of two kinds-physical and psychological. Two methods are applied to protect the confidentiality of research participants. Most of the researches ensure confidentiality to the participants. Assurance is provided not to disclose identities to people outside study. The principle of anonymity is considered to be stringent standard which indicates that the participant will remain unidentified throughout the research -- even to the investigators themselves. Although anonymity standard ensures privacy more than anything else, sometimes it becomes difficult to achieve, particularly in cases where participants have to be assessed at several points of time like in case of a pre-post research (Ethics in research, n.d). Now, some ethical issues will be discussed in context to firesetting and how those are affecting our society. First, an incident is being considered where a 15-year old boy has set fire in his own house which led to an unusual death of his twin brother. In Frederick, U.S. Joshua Williamson has set fire in his house which killed his own brother, Jerrell. The State Marshall’s office reported that the cause of the death was due to setting up of fire by a cigarette lighter which Joshua got from under his bed. But on the other hand, the twins’ mother, Carolyn Stone and her boyfriend Ray Pulliam denied of Joshua’s involvement in this murder. According to them, the death was an accident. The investigators had not charged any cases as they thought that the deed was not done with criminal intentions. Moreover, both the twin brothers are victim of autism which is a kind of brain development disorder. Relatives of their family revealed that Joshua used to have firesetting tendencies and used to play with the matches earlier (Rucker, 2009, p.B2). Here, it has been observed that a psychological disorder led to murder of an individual. An autistic individual is not a result of homogenous disorder. There has been a wide range of behavioral, cognitive, communicative and social ability observed among individuals with autistic spectrum. Autism can be cured through cognitive and behavioral counseling to some extent (Tuchman, 2003). The autistic patients should be provided teaching in an environment which is pleasurable and stimulating. It should be ensured that they are free from any kind of agony and are in good mental health. The parents should also be encouraged to participate in the process of assessment so as to help these children to come out of their frustration and develop skill (Dunlap, 1999). Next, a situation is being talked about where a kid out of frustration and anger had set fire. Hunter is a boy of eleven years. He has been setting fire since he was nine. He had set at least ten fires particularly in woods and in leaves before going for a treatment. He has also set fire on his blanket and his walkie-talkie. According to the sources, Hunter had a feeling of insecurity as his mother had been devoting more time with her live-in boyfriend. As stated by Hunter, he was happy that her boyfriend was in jail. Thus, he can spend more time with his mother. The state Department of Social Services to the Brandon Residential Treatment Center had recommended him who had got a history of destructive behavior. This department deal with the youths aged between 7 and 17 who have behavioral problems. According to a psychologist, Hunter was neither a pathological fire-setter not an arsonist. Thus, we observe that he craved for motherly love and affection which he was somewhat deprived of (Allis, S. (February 19, 2006, p.A.3). Finally, a case about two 15-year old boys is being discussed. They had set fire on North Table Mountain Fire. These two boys were charged of severe crimes associated with fire. It had been reported that post fire, the kids had started playing with the fireworks. Both of them had faced felony charges of first-degree arson and fourth-degree misbehavior. They supposedly told officials that they did not climb the mountain to start out fireworks, but did ignite a roman candle that led to small spot fires. The fire compelled a number of abandonment, but no houses were lost in the rapid-moving explosion which burnt 200 acres of land. The expense of the fire was estimated to be more than $100,000 (Teens charged with setting Table Mountain Fire, 2005). In this situation, it is found that arson led to massive destruction of land and properties. In the context of the above issues, a questionnaire has been formulated (See Appendix.). Questions have been asked to two individuals about the behavioral traits of the young generation fire-setters. Out of the two individuals, one of them is a teenager and the other is a grown-up individual. They have given their own views regarding the social and psychological behavior of arsonists. The interviewees have requested not to disclose their names which have been agreed. The asked questions and the received answers are given in the Appendix. Out of five questions asked, four of them are open ended questions and one of them is close ended question. The interview was taken through e-mail. According to the answers provided by the interviewees, fire-setting needs to be controlled to save the living beings as well as properties and environment on earth. Both of them have viewed that the plausible causes behind the acts of arsonists are frustration, anger, lack of love and affection. Both of them think that it is not reasonable to punish the juveniles as they do not carry out the crimes intentionally. However, one of them suggested that some kind of punishment should be given so that youths never go for setting fires in fear of punishment. According to them, the State as well as other organizations should take initiative to put a halt to these malicious deeds. Part II. The strengths and weaknesses of each source and the way these will enlighten the present research: In the present study, the first situation has talked about a teenager boy who has set fire his own house to kill his own twin brother. And more importantly, both of them are victims of autism. In this case, it is observed that both of them used to stay with their mother who was in a relationship with another man. Thus, it has been found that both the children were deprived of fatherly love from the very beginning. Joshua might have killed Jerrell out of frustration or anger. The strength of the source is the presence of psychological disorder which can be a major reason for opting for setting fire in own house. The weakness lies within the fact that it has not been strongly mentioned that Joshua was the ultimate cause behind fire-setting act. According to his mother and her boyfriend, fire might be ignited by Jerrell also. As both of these twins were having psychological disorder of not being able to interact and communicate, thus further investigation cannot be progressed. The present research has helped out to understand that how a person having fire-setting history can unintentionally kill another person and that too his own brother. The second situation has also been taken from peer-viewed articles. It discusses about an eleven years old guy, Hunter who had set fire in the woods. This kind of deed particularly aroused due to lack of love and affection of any of the parents. In case of Hunter also, he had been raised by a single-parent. His violent act was a result of his mother’s negligence and care towards her child. He also suffered from jealousy as he used to think that his mother was more close to her boyfriend rather than him. The strength of this source is the confession of the boy that he was neglected by his mother and he loved her boyfriend to stay in jail who at that time was imprisoned. The weakness of the source is the situation where after the malicious act, Hunter’s mother returned back to her room after hearing from her child about his fire-setting. This proves that his mother did not care about her child’s crime and indirectly encouraging for going ahead with his deed. This research has provided immense help to know the reactions of a youth when he feels emotionally or mentally unsecured. The third situation illustrates about two guys who had set fire in Table Mountain Fire burning 200 acres of land. The source has been taken from a newspaper article. Their felonies might have resulted in death of hundreds of people if proper actions were not been taken. However, $100,000 of costs had to be incurred due to burning of land. The strength of this source reveals that both the 15-year old guys were punished for their malicious act which will cite an example for the generation of youths as well as for the other individuals who would think twice before executing their violent actions. The weakness of the source lies with the fact that it had not been mentioned that whether they had a history of fire-setting or what was the reason behind these felonies. According to the guys, they did not set fire intentionally. But if that is so, then why did they ignite a roman candle over the mountain. All these questions are not explained by this source. This research enlightens us with the concept of punishment which can be beneficial for safeguarding society as a whole and forbidding the criminals to commit crime. Comparison among three situations: Comparing both the three situations, we find a similarity between the first two cases. The similarity lies with the fact that both of the fire-setters were raised by a single-parent. The first situation is a case of psychological disorder where the arsonist cannot express his feelings or frustrations as he was an autistic. The second situation elaborates about negligence from a mother where there is no presence of father. There has been communication gap between a mother and a son which resulted in setting fires in the woods. The third situation talks about two teenage boys who set fire which may have caused serious devastation in lives and properties if not considered. In both the first situations, punishment was not offered to any of the fire-setters but in the third situation, punishment was provided to juvenile fire-setters, although the third situation seems to be extreme compared to the first two. Conclusion: There is a saying that “no smoke without fire”. The saying is based on reality as it has been observed in the present study that the children are victim of negligence by their parents only who were not concerned to correct or treat their children with special care or affection. The findings of this study suggest that features other than brutality and capacity of fire setting behavior, throw in toward the choice to make residency for juveniles. It is possible that the arrangement of the existence of fire setting behavior within a dwelling environment characterized by reduced parenting properties for management and limit setting, along with a higher level of persistent behavioral problems adds up to higher risk for residency. Primary hindrance of residency might be accomplished through conveying and interferences to single-parent households with performing juveniles. Treatment within a residency may require emphasizing on therapy strategies, training programs of parents, and milieu behavior curriculums that directly address minimization and management of belligerent thinking and behaviors (Pllinger, Samuels and Stadolnik, 2005). References: 1. Allis, S. (February 19, 2006). Aflame with rage angry boys who set fires remain an enigma. Boston, Mass, Boston Globe. 2. Dunlap, G. (October 1, 1999). Teaching Students with Autism. ERIC Digest E582. Eric Educational Reports. 3. “Ethics in research”. (n.d.). Research Methods Knowledge Base, available at: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ethics.php (Accessed on July 13, 2009). 4. “Fire setting and Youth.” (n.d.). Focus Adolescent Services, available at: http://www.focusas.com/Firesetting.html (Accessed on July 13, 2009). 5. Mash, E.J., Barkley, R.A. (2006). Treatment of childhood disorders. New York: Guilford Press. 6. Pllinger, J., Samuels, L., Stadolnik, R. (2005). A comparative study of the Behavioral, Personality, AND fire history characteristics of residential and outpatient adolescents (ages 12-17) with firesetting behaviors. Roslyn Heights. Vol. 40, Iss. 158 7. Rucker, P. (December 26, 2006). Marshals Office Will Not File Charges in Autistic Boys Death. The Washington Post, Washington D.C. 8. Sparta, S.N., Koocher, G.P. (2006). Forensic mental health assessment of children and adolescents. New York: Oxford University Press. 9. “Teens charged with setting Table Mountain Fire.” (August 11, 2005). Denver News. Available at: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4837848/detail.html (Accessed on July 13, 2009). 10. Tuchman, R. (March, 2003). Brain waives, seizures and the child with autism. The Exceptional Parent. 33(3). Appendix: Individual 1. Q1. What is opinion about the increasing number of arson in our society? Ans. It is a serious crime and it needs to be tackled properly otherwise, in the coming years, it can turn out to be a major issue. Q2. What could be the probable causes behind these violent acts? Ans. People especially the youths are attracted to arson. The plausible reasons behind these felonies may be frustration, anger, environment and many other reasons by which a child is compelled to undertake these kinds of acts. Q3. Do you have ever faced any sort of arson in your real life? Read More