A study has found differences between rural and urban arsonists, noting some early improvements when policies used in other countries were adapted for individuals.
The data is part of Rita Ribeiro’s doctoral thesis, defended on the 6th of January at the University of Coimbra, entitled “Rural and Urban Arsonists: Analysis of criminal profiles and preliminary effectiveness of the Intervention Program for Individuals Arrested for Arson Crime.”
“In literature, they are studied in a general way: they are arsonists, period. What was realised with this study is that there are differences between rural and urban arsonists.” Stressed the author to the Lusa agency.
Rural arsonists are older individuals, usually afflicted by alcohol abuse and, in many cases, mental illness, which is very different from urban arsonists. Rural and urban arsonists have some similar characteristics, including the fact that they have no accomplices, do not move much outside their area of residence or work; however, when confessing their crimes, their differences usually lie within their motivation.
Rita Ribeiro explained that rural arsonists are more likely to set fires out of irritation rather than targeting someone, often without knowing the landowner. In contrast, urban arsonists tend to act out of revenge, usually knowing the owner and often having a close or even familial relationship with them.
According to Rita Ribeiro, the typologies revealed that even in rural areas, individuals are more varied than urban arsonists, falling into three groups: one linked to alcohol consumption issues, another with a high rate of mental illness and psychiatric problems, and finally, those considered socially adapted, who don’t share the problems of the others and set fires for more practical reasons. Fire serves another purpose. It is not out of anger, revenge, or annoyance, but to clean the land
But it is not just men, 10% of those studied were women. They too can be divided into different categories, although the motivation is less different. Most women start fires out of anger, in this case, for a cry for help or attention seeking,” said the researcher, noting that there is not much instrumental motivation.
In the mostly male sample, 73% were found to have some form of alcohol consumption issues and/or mental illness, while women showed a lower rate at 53%. However, mental illness was still more common, and women tended to have consumed less alcohol at the time of the crime compared to men, she added.
Within the scope of the thesis, an intervention that already exists in other countries, such as England, used group therapy, which was adapted in a preliminary way for three test subjects; the three were then studied, and improvements were observed.
According to Rita Ribeiro, there was a decrease in anger in general, as well as improvements in the strategies of how they dealt with situations, social skills, especially assertiveness, and empathy. There was a decrease in some individuals’ inappropriate interest in fire and also in the normalisation of fire.”
The work resulted in a ‘checklist’ that, according to the researcher, can be used to assist the justice system and criminal investigation to characterise and assess individual arsonists.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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