Abstract
BackgroundAs pyromania is a rare diagnosis with questionable validity, we aimed to describe a forensic psychiatric population of arson recidivists.MethodsThe medical records as well as the forensic psychiatric examination statements of 90 arson recidivists referred for pretrial psychiatric assessment in Helsinki University Hospital Department of Forensic Psychiatry between 1973 and 1993 were reviewed.ResultsThe most important diagnostic categories of arson recidivists were personality disorders, psychosis and mental retardation, often with comorbid alcoholism. In all, 68% of arsonists were under alcohol intoxication during the index crime. Psychotic as well as mentally retarded persons with repeated fire-setting behaviour were mostly "pure arsonists"- persons guilty only of arsons during their criminal careers. Arson recidivists with personality disorder, in contrast, often exhibited various types of criminal behaviour and arson appeared to be only one expression of a wide range of criminal activity. Comorbid alcoholism was apparently a more rarely observed phenomenon among pure arsonists than in "nonpure arsonists". We found only three subjects fulfilling the present diagnostic criteria for pyromania.ConclusionUsing the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR, pyromania must be regarded as an extremely rare phenomenon. Especially the question of substance intoxication as an exclusion criterion for pyromania should be reconsidered.
Highlights
As pyromania is a rare diagnosis with questionable validity, we aimed to describe a forensic psychiatric population of arson recidivists
Arson is a major source of property damage, injury and death in many Western countries
Some of the participants were convicted in court for arson earlier during their criminal carrier, and others were in court process for the first time in their lives
Summary
As pyromania is a rare diagnosis with questionable validity, we aimed to describe a forensic psychiatric population of arson recidivists. In the study by Barnett et al [6] arsonists who were only partly responsible and who committed no crimes other than arson showed the (page number not for citation purposes). Arson recidivists have rarely been thoroughly characterized, but their psychiatric disorders appear to be heterogeneous and include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, personality disorders as well as mental retardation [7,8,9]. Pyromania – deliberate and purposeful fire- setting on more than one occasion- is a rare phenomenon that seldom explains repeated fire-setting behaviour [10,11], and the phenomenon as a valid diagnosis has even been questioned [12]. Further research is needed to examine the different subgroups of arsonists [4]
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