TY - JOUR PY - 2013// TI - Copycat firesetting: bridging two research areas JO - Criminal justice and behavior A1 - Doley, Rebekah A1 - Ferguson, Claire A1 - Surette, Ray SP - 1472 EP - 1491 VL - 40 IS - 12 N2 - Deliberate firesetting costs our community in destruction to property and lives. Public concern heightens when similar fires occur in a series, raising the specter of copycat firesetting. Difficulties associated with researching copycat crimes in general mean that not a lot is known about copycat firesetting. As an initial step toward filling this research gap, we explore connections between research on copycat crime and research into deliberate firesetting. The intention is to extract salient features from what is known about the phenomena of deliberate firesetting and copycat crime, map them together, and point out shared and unique characteristics. It is argued that a "copycat firesetter" is likely to exist as a distinct subgroup and potentially requiring targeted interventions. Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0093-8548 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093854813496997 ID - ref1 ER -