Abstract
Extract:
I am malicious because I am miserable. -Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Within clinical literature there has been an assumption that the above quote typifies a large proportion of individuals who deliberately commit arson. In other words, that psychological disorders of some kind can be found in the majority of such persons (Geller, Fisher, & Moynihan, 1992). For example, early conceptualisations of the condition pyromania meant that any individual who set more than one fire was considered to suffer from an 'irresistible impulse'- merely for the fact that they did not resist the impulse to set a fire. Now, however, a more sophisticated definition means that pyromania is a very rare diagnosis for arsonists.
I am malicious because I am miserable. -Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Within clinical literature there has been an assumption that the above quote typifies a large proportion of individuals who deliberately commit arson. In other words, that psychological disorders of some kind can be found in the majority of such persons (Geller, Fisher, & Moynihan, 1992). For example, early conceptualisations of the condition pyromania meant that any individual who set more than one fire was considered to suffer from an 'irresistible impulse'- merely for the fact that they did not resist the impulse to set a fire. Now, however, a more sophisticated definition means that pyromania is a very rare diagnosis for arsonists.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Forensic psychology and criminology |
| Subtitle of host publication | An Australian perspective |
| Editors | K. Fritzon, P. Wilson |
| Place of Publication | North Ryde |
| Publisher | McGraw-Hill Companies |
| Pages | 101-109 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781308474236 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780070134928 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |