ABSTRACT

Even though the media and the general public have paid some attention to the extensive human and property costs associated with arson, surprisingly little empirically sound research has focused on the crime and the individuals who engage in it. In a 1980 piece, Rider discussed five major obstacles to researching and acquiring information

about arsonists; these problems include: “(a) the problem of appre­ hending arsonists; (b) the legal disposition of arson crimes with the few who are incarcerated; (c) the sources of arson statistics was not cen­ tralized until 1978; (d) the legal constraints on information exchange; and (e) the focus and conclusion of past research” (Davis & Lauber, 1999:276). Existing research tends to be in the form of clinical studies with small sample sizes (Sapp et al., 1999).