Practical strategies and creative activities to address firesetting behaviour

This book helps adults to understand firesetting behaviour in children and teens and provides strategies to work with them to address the behaviour. Drawing upon the latest juvenile firesetting research and utilising child development theory to underpin its safety messages, the book explores why young people might set fires in the first place and contextualises firesetting in terms of communication and gaining the attention of carers and other adults.

The chapters lay out practical, tried-and-tested steps that professionals and carers can take to address firesetting behaviour, and suggests how to further support any child or teen who sets fires. This includes summaries of the latest evidence-based support strategies and a range of creative activities that can be used in direct work with children and teenagers who set fires, tailored to specific age ranges. Combining expert advice on firesetting behaviour with straightforward practices, this comprehensive book can be used by anyone working with young people to help them intervene and prevent it.

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Children and teenagers
who set fires is an
absorbing and accessible
introduction to understanding
juvenile firesetting. Part manual,
part paean to her roots in the
Welsh Valleys, Joanna Foster's
first book is a well-judged and
acutely observed insight into an
area that she has worked in for
many years and clearly loves.
All fire and rescue services
have some form of juvenile
firesetting intervention
programme; Joanna used to
manage the London Fire Brigade
team before striking out on her
own a few years ago. It is not an
area that gets a lot of attention -
it is not mentioned once in the
State of Fire and it is unlikely to be
in any of the individual fire and
rescue service inspection reports
either. It is a specialist corner run
by dedicated staff who should all
read this book... This book has a naturally
limited audience but really
it should have wider appeal.
Children need adults who
are kind, caring and above all
able to help them navigate the
complexities of life. Joanna's
book provides the tools to help
practitioners be their guides.