Pyromania Analysis Essay Research Paper As a

Pyromania Analysis Essay, Research Paper

As a young child I, like many other children was fascinated with fireworks. Every July 4th my family would always put on the best fireworks display. Even to this day I enjoy watching fireworks and lighting them off. For some people it is their job to play with fire, and for others it is an impulsive desire they cannot deny. These people have a problem with the inability to control impulses to set fires. They will do anything to see a fire, be part of a fire, they simply like fire. Firefighters and psychologist label these people to suffer from pyromania. Each year people become innocent victims to arson. They lose property, memories and most importantly lives. Every time a crime is committed we ask the question .why,. and wonder how someone could do something so wrong to another. The following pages will discuss arson and mainly focus in on pyromania. Pyromania is considered to be a psychological disorder, and still is not quite understood to the fullest. To try and understand pyromania we must first look at arson and talk about the motives behind this problem.

Motive is not an element of the offense and need not be proven to obtain a conviction for arson. Evidence of participation by a defendant is required to prove an arson case. Research has found that arson is committed for a number of reasons. The primary motivation for all violent crimes is POWER. Power is defined as the ability or capacity to exercise control over others. When we think about it, unleashing the devastating fury of an uncontrolled fire is a tremendous exercise in power. We break the power motivation into 4 categories. They are:

1.Obtaining power

2.Demonstrating power

3.Maintaining power

4.Acquiring lost powerC. We can further identify motives that meet the individual offender’s need for power. These motives are:

1. Vandalism

a. This motive is sometimes called “malicious mischief” and helps identify the type of offender – juveniles.

b. May be the result of peer or group pressure.

c. Typical targets include schools, abandoned buildings and vegetation.

2. Crime Concealment

a. This is secondary or collateral criminal activity

b. Usually, a fire is set to cover up the primary crime; murder, burglary, auto theft, destruction or theft of records, etc.

c. The offender is trying to impede the investigation by

(1) Obscure the fact that the primary crime has occurred

(2) Destroying forensic evidence of lead value

(3) Delay or prevent identification of the victim

3. Extremist

a. Further social, political, or religious causes.

b. Targets include abortion clinics, houses of worship, government buildings, laboratories and fur farms.

c. Frequently accompanied by a communication claiming responsibility and espousing the cause embraced by the perpetrators.

4. Profit

a. Direct monetary gain includes

(1) Insurance fraud

(2) Liquidating property

(3) Dissolving a business

(4) Destroying unprofitable inventory

b. Indirect monetary gain can include

(1) Creating employment

(2) Eliminating competition

(3) Remodel old property

5. Excitement – nuisance type fires such as dumpsters, recycling bins, trash piles; targets of opportunity; may escalate as fire setting no longer provides enough excitement. Several types:

a. Thrills (most common excitement motive) – enjoys the turmoil created by fire setting

b. Recognition (hero) – firefighter, police officer, security guard, employee

c. Attention – excited by idea everyone is looking for him

d. Sexual gratification – unusual and usually present with other motives

6. Revenge

a. The most common motive for a serial arsonist (NCAVC study of serial arsonists – 41% cited revenge as motive – graphic)

b. Retaliation for some real or imagined injustice.

c. May be an element of other motives.

d. Types of revenge motives include:

(1) Societal – most common serial arsonist motive (70% of revenge motivated serial arsonists) and most dangerous

(2) Institutional

(3) Personal

(4) Group

A study done by Birte Kjellberg (German) draws a social and psychological profile of the typical arsonist. The sample comprised 127 individuals drawn from the Forensic Department of the Psychiatric Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. The data was drawn from hospital records. Most of the sample was male, total 109, the average age was 30, and most were unemployed or receiving an early pension. In general, all had an insecure and disharmonic childhood, as well as problems in school. Ninety percent lived alone and most had few social relationships despite being friendly and behaving nonviolently. More than half abused alcohol, and nearly two-thirds were intoxicated by hashish, alcohol or another substance when they started the fires. The most frequent cause of fire starting was relaxation of tension. Which goes back to our pyromaniacs who felt a sense of relief when setting the blaze. Almost 20% of the group studied suffered from psychosis when committing the act, while the majority was diagnosed with personality disorders.

(N.T. Criminology, 1996, 8

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