ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 6

Revisiting Arson from an Outpatient Forensic Perspective
Leong, GB
Psychiatric Consultant, Forensic Psychiatry Center, OH

Silva, JA
Staff Psychiatrist, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Clinical/Education Division, Palo Alto Veterans Health Care System, Menlo Park Division, CA

(Received 19 August 1998; accepted 23 September 1998)

Abstract

Progress in the understanding of individuals who commit arson has been on a slow but steady course over the past two decades. From our review of court-ordered outpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation of individuals charged with arson over a five-year period, preliminary prototypical profiles of the psychotic, mentally retarded, alcohol abusing, and mood-disordered firesetter are offered. The clinical-legal relevance of our results are explored.

Keywords:
forensic science, arson, firesetting, psychiatry, psychosis, alcohol abuse, pyromania, mental disorder, psychiatry, dangerousness

Paper ID: JFS14508J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14508J
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