Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the progress that has been made, particularly in the past decade, in the psychological study of firesetting. Researchers at the University of Kent's Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP) and colleagues have published widely on the topic, which has improved what we know about firesetting both in terms of theory and research. Amongst other achievements, the team has developed a manualised treatment programme for firesetters – the fire setters intervention programme for prisoners and a version for mentally disordered offenders (FIPP and FIP-MO respectively), a self-report instrument to explore fire interest and the most contemporary multi-factor theory into firesetting – the Multi-trajectory theory of adult firesetting (M-TTAF). Despite the progress there are, inevitably, some limitations in the existing literature base and its applications. One such issue is that psychological research has focussed solely on the misuse of fire, which I argue, only tells part of the story. This chapter will consider these limitations, as well as the challenges in working with, and researching, firesetters.