Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Evolution Of Child Fire Involvement, Rebekah Doley

Rebekah Doley

Extract:

In a legal context the term “arson” is often not applied to child fire-setting because it is generally accepted that children as young as 10 years cannot form an “intention” to commit a crime. Sometimes the term “fire-play” is used as an alternative, yet many child development specialists and educators see this as a misnomer because, the word “play” connotes positive, learning activities. Statistically, however, it seems a consistent trend world-wide that a significant number of deliberately lit fires are started by juveniles. It raises the question, then, whether these young people have “always” lit fires or whether this …