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Developing an Assessment of Fire-Setting to Guide Treatment in Secure Settings: The St Andrew's Fire and Arson Risk Instrument (SAFARI)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2013

Clive G. Long ,
Ellen Banyard ,
Barbara Fulton  and
Clive R. Hollin
Clive G. Long*
Affiliation:
St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton, UK
Ellen Banyard
Affiliation:
St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton, UK
Barbara Fulton
Affiliation:
St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton, UK
Clive R. Hollin
Affiliation:
University of Leicester, UK
*
Reprint requests to Clive G. Long, St Andrews Healthcare – Women's Service, 80 Billing Road, Northampton NN1 5DG, UK. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background: Arson and fire-setting are highly prevalent among patients in secure psychiatric settings but there is an absence of valid and reliable assessment instruments and no evidence of a significant approach to intervention. Aims: To develop a semi-structured interview assessment specifically for fire-setting to augment structured assessments of risk and need. Method: The extant literature was used to frame interview questions relating to the antecedents, behaviour and consequences necessary to formulate a functional analysis. Questions also covered readiness to change, fire-setting self-efficacy, the probability of future fire-setting, barriers to change, and understanding of fire-setting behaviour. The assessment concludes with indications for assessment and a treatment action plan. The inventory was piloted with a sample of women in secure care and was assessed for comprehensibility, reliability and validity. Results: Staff rated the St Andrews Fire and Risk Instrument (SAFARI) as acceptable to patients and easy to administer. SAFARI was found to be comprehensible by over 95% of the general population, to have good acceptance, high internal reliability, substantial test-retest reliability and validity. Conclusions: SAFARI helps to provide a clear explanation of fire-setting in terms of the complex interplay of antecedents and consequences and facilitates the design of an individually tailored treatment programme in sympathy with a cognitive-behavioural approach. Further studies are needed to verify the reliability and validity of SAFARI with male populations and across settings.

Keywords

Arsonfire-settingriskinventoryassessmenttreatment
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 42 , Issue 5 , September 2014 , pp. 617 - 628
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2013 

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