Fire-setting on an adolescent inpatient unit: an analysis

A one time series of fire-setting episodes on an inpatient adolescent service are analyzed from a systems standpoint for the purpose of primary prevention. This paper documents that fire-setting behavior can occur in individuals with no prior history of fire-setting and that losses to the hospital system proper can be psychologically coupled to losses felt by an individual. Specific recommendations are offered based on both case history analysis of the protagonists and the psychosocial determinants of the hospital system. A selective literature review compares this experience with others.