Where next? Identifying firesetting research priorities

In this final chapter we identify future research priorities for the advancement of firesetting knowledge. The assumption that underpins the chapter is that the research corpus relevant to firesetting is seriously under-developed relative to that for other problematic or criminal behaviours. If this premise is true, then future developments might result in a body of research that shares a topography with that of violent or sexual offending. Of course, however, this is not to say that similar conclusions will be drawn. Were new studies to proliferate in the field of firesetting, then we would expect to advance to a point where we can confidently talk about 'what works in reducing firesetting recidivism'.