JUVENILE FIRESETTING

Social workers in settings that work with children often are asked about children who "play with fire" or misuse fire and firesetting materials. Those who work in psychiatric settings and those who work with children who have sustained burn injuries deal with a population that has a high precentage of children who have a problem with misues of fire and firesetting materials.

It is very important to understand both the risks and dangers of this behavior and the theories about why children misuse matches and firesetting materials. While it is true that the majority of children exhibit interest in matches and fires from a very early age and many of them will actually set a fire, it doesn't necessarily follow that parents and/or teachers know how to deal with the interest or the behavior. Fortunately, there is more and more information available about how parents and teachers can help channel that interest into safe behaviors. It is also important that parents of very young children (those under the age of 5) know how to make their home firesafe by limiting access to matches and lighters.

Since the early 1980s there has been a big push to educate firefighters about juvenile firesetting. Many firedepartments have firefighters trained to speak with parents and school classrooms about how to handle their children's curiosity and interest. They are also increasingly being trained on who to identify those children who might have more serious problems and link those families with community resources. To locate a firedepartment in Michigan. If you deal with the issues on a regular basis you might want to check out the SOS Fires: Youth Intervention Program for indepth reading about the problem and intervention programs around the country that have been developed to help kids and famlies.

The University of Michigan Burn Center has a program called Straight Talk designed to help children with problem firesetting. Monthly programs are held that target kids who have a problem with fire. Referrals come from fire departments, schools and the juvenile court. If you have a child or family who you think could benefit from an educational intervention, go to the website for information on how to make a referral.

I have collected a reading list of journal articles and books about Juvenile Firesetting. Review it to find articles about what research is discovering about children who set fires and is beginning to show about intervention programs targeted to reduce the incidence of juvenile firesetting. There are also a number of articles about treatment interventions that have been used with children of various ages.

Last updated 4/17/06

If you have information that should be posted or added to this section, please e-mail me at mlbowden@umich.edu. Thanks!