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This project describes the first in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 1 empirically assesses the prevalence and psychological risk factors associated with the past sexual aggression of male students at one UK university.

This project describes the fourth in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 4 assesses the short and longer-term effectiveness of an evidence-based online behavioural self-help intervention designed to reduce the propensity towards sexual aggression of UK university male students.

This project describes the first in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 1 empirically assesses the prevalence and psychological risk factors associated with the past sexual aggression of male students at one UK university.

This project describes the seventh in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 7 extends a previously pre-registered study associated with this project (“Study 3”; https://osf.io/n73wy/) by using a broader sample to examine whether male university students in the UK who self-report recent sexual aggression can be classified into meaningful subgroups based on their responses to key psychological and demographic variables associated with their risk of sexual assault perpetration.

This project describes the second and third in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 2 empirically assesses the prevalence and psychological risk factors associated with the past sexual aggression of male students across UK universities and is a follow-up to "Study 1" (https://osf.io/4ht8m/). Study 3 combines data from Studies 1 and 2 to explore whether there are distinct typologies of sexually aggressive male students in the UK, who can be classified and statistically differentiated by the psychological risk factors associated with their past offending behaviours. 20/09/21 UPDATE: Please note that, in the interest of scientific rigour, Study 3 has since been replaced by "Study 7" (https://osf.io/rj78t/). This new study allows for a more powerful and valid cluster analysis. Please refer to our Study 7 pre-registration for additional information.

This project describes the second and third in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 2 empirically assesses the prevalence and psychological risk factors associated with the past sexual aggression of male students across UK universities and is a follow-up to "Study 1" (https://osf.io/4ht8m/). Study 3 combines data from Studies 1 and 2 to explore whether there are distinct typologies of sexually aggressive male students in the UK, who can be classified and statistically differentiated by the psychological risk factors associated with their past offending behaviours. 20/09/21 UPDATE: Please note that, in the interest of scientific rigour, Study 3 has since been replaced by "Study 7" (https://osf.io/rj78t/). This new study allows for a more powerful and valid cluster analysis. Please refer to our Study 7 pre-registration for additional information.

This project describes the fifth and sixth in a series of empirical research studies conducted by the lead author for his PhD, which explores male sexual aggression at UK universities. Study 5 empirically assesses the prevalence and relationship-level and situation-relevant risk factors associated with the past sexual aggression of male students across UK universities. Study 6 replicates Study 5, examining instead institution-level risk factors.

This project describes a meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of offence specific treatments for individuals who have offended.

Validates a previously designed firesetting questionnaire developed in doi 10.17605/OSF.IO/YT9AM

The current study aims to develop and validate the Social Desirability Scale-Sexual (SDS-S). The SDS-S aims to measure the likelihood of participants’ self-reported responses to more sensitive, sexual questions, such as those used in the sexual offending literature, being honest.

Survey of clinicians' pereptions of the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in the assessment and treatment of individuals with a history of deliberate firesetting

This is a copy of my previous project "Why women stay in relationships with individuals who have committed different offences". Instead of recruiting from a student population, I will recruit participants from different local UK subreddits. Participants will need to be in a longer-term relationship than in the previous project (min. 1 year as compared to the previous two months), and half of the participants will have a child with their partner so I can identify the role this may play. I have also included a different measure of interpersonal dependency as the DPQ had to be excluded in my last study due to insufficient internal consistency.

Although romantic relationships are essential for rehabilitation of individuals who have sexually offended (ISO), little is known about why partners decide to stay in or leave the relationship after finding out about an offence. In this study, participants will complete questionnaires assessing factors which may be related to this decision-making process (i.e., attitudes towards ISO, relationship satisfaction, dependent personality, sexism & acceptance of myths about sexual aggression). Afterwards, they will be presented with a vignette which describes their partner committing an offence. Depending on the condition the participant is allocated to, this will be a violent offence, sexual harassment, or rape. We predict that participants will be more likely to stay in the relationship when their partner has committed a non-sexual offence. We also predict that higher levels of relationship satisfaction and dependent personality predict higher levels of willingness to continue the relationship, regardless of the offence committed. Due to the scarcity of research in this area we also pose an exploratory research question: Do the characteristics assessed through the remaining questionnaire measures (i.e., attitudes towards ISO, sexism & acceptance of myths about sexual aggression) predict relationship continuation in partners of ISO better than in partners of violent offenders?

Purpose: VR is a novel technology that could be used in the assessment and/or treatment of deliberate firesetting. This study aimed to develop an understanding of clinicians’ views of VR for deliberate firesetting, in order to identify areas where VR could potentially add value to current practice and any particular barriers to using VR in this context. \ud Methodology: Through an online survey, 73 clinicians rated their agreement with nine potential benefits of using VR for firesetting and 11 potential barriers to using it. They also provided free text responses detailing the greatest perceived potential benefit and the greatest perceived barrier. Factors related to intent to use VR for firesetting in the future were explored. \ud Findings: Clinicians perceived the ability to safely expose clients to fire-related stimuli to be highly beneficial. However, clinicians were concerned about the possibility of re-traumatisation and logistic barriers. Previous experience of using VR with individuals who have set fires was significantly related to using it in the future.\ud Practical implications: Further research establishing the feasibility and effectiveness of using VR with individuals who have set fires may help alleviate clinicians’ concerns. Increasing opportunities for clinicians to experience a firesetting VR programme may widen implementation of firesetting VR. \ud Originality/value: Previous research has only focused on clinicians’ perceptions of VR in the general field of forensic mental health and has failed to consider offence-specific applications.

Deliberate firesetting is a prevalent form of offending that has devastating consequences for societies worldwide (Tyler et al., 2019). The most recent comprehensive theory of deliberate firesetting by adults, The Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (M-TTAF; Gannon et al., 2012, 2022), has suggested key psychological vulnerabilities associated with firesetting. These vulnerabilities can be broadly grouped into four areas: fire-related factors (including fire interest); offence-supportive attitudes; self and emotional regulation issues; and issues with social competence. Research has demonstrated that psychometric measures tapping into these areas show differences across adults with a history of firesetting and adults who have engaged in other criminal activity (Gannon et al., 2013), indicating that adults who have set fires have distinct treatment needs, relative to other offenders. It has recently been established that approximately 1 in 5 individuals who have previously set fires will go on to repeat this behaviour (Sambrooks et al., 2021). Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we have an understanding of why these individuals set multiple fires. Retrospective file reviews have provided some evidence supporting specific risk factors for repeat firesetting (e.g., fire interest; see Tyler et al., 2015). However, it has not yet been established whether adults who have set only one fire and those who have set multiple fires differ in terms of their treatment needs, as assessed by psychological psychometric measures. Therefore, it is crucial that we investigate whether assessments of firesetting treatment needs are able to distinguish individuals on the basis of their repeat firesetting status.

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-sax-10.1177_10790632211051682 for Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors by Samuel T. Hales and Theresa A. Gannon in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-sax-10.1177_10790632211051682 for Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors by Samuel T. Hales and Theresa A. Gannon in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment

In the UK, figures suggest that over two-thirds of female university students experience sexual violence during their studies (1), with 1-in-20 having been raped or the victim of an attempted rape offence (2). However, despite a secure understanding of its prevalence, little remains known about the profile of sexual violence perpetrators in higher education (HE) settings. It is believed that our studies are the first in the UK to assess the treatment needs of sexually aggressive male students-the key perpetrators of university-based sexual violence offences (3, 4). Study One assesses the characteristics and predictors of sexual aggression amongst university males at one UK university, whilst Study Two evaluates the generalisability of findings across a national and representative sample.\ud \ud NOTE: This poster is also to be displayed at the Chrysallis Network's Solving the Campus Sexual Assault & Dating Violence Puzzle conference in Raleigh, NC between 12-13 December 2019.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) represents the gold standard for effective clinical psychological practice. In this review, we examine ways in which EBP tenets are being neglected by correctional psychologists worldwide. We examine three key aspects of EBP currently being neglected: (a) individualized and flexible client focus, (b) the therapeutic alliance, and (c) psychological expertise. We also highlight two highly related issues responsible for correctional psychologists' neglect of EBP. The first relates to policy makers' and correctional psychologists' overreliance on the Risk–Need–Responsivity Model to guide correctional practice. We argue that the narrow focus and implementation of this model has resulted in a severe identity problem for correctional psychologists that has severely exacerbated the dual relationship problem. That is, the tension psychologists experience as a result of engaging in psychological practice while also obliging the risk and security policies of correctional systems. The second issue concerns psychologists' response to the dual relationship problem. In short, psychology, as a discipline appears to have acquiesced to the dual-relationship problem. In our view, this constitutes a ‘crisis’ for the discipline of correctional psychology. We offer several recommendations for injecting EBP back into correctional psychology for the individual, psychology as a discipline, and correctional policy makers.

Purpose. Ward (2000) has hypothesized that sexual offenders hold offence supportive implicit theories (ITs) or schemata that function to facilitate or maintain offending behaviour. The present research aimed to determine whether rape-prone men hold the same offence supportive ITs as those that have been identified in rapists.\ud \ud Method. This study adopted both an explicit measure of ITs and also an implicit measure of ITs (an interpretative bias task). In the implicit task, participants viewed ambiguous stimuli (one-sentence statements) that may be interpreted in either a rape-supportive manner, or a non-rape-supportive manner. Participant's interpretation of the stimuli was assessed via a memory recognition task. We predicted that men higher on proclivity to rape – who presumably hold strong mental representations of rape-supportive themes – would be more likely to interpret stimuli in a rape-supportive manner relative to non-rape-supportive stimuli compared to men lower on rape proclivity.\ud \ud Results. Using multiple regression to determine the relative contributions of both explicit and implicit measures for predicting rape proclivity, we found that only the explicit, self-report questionnaire and one of the ITs, ‘women are sex objects’ (as measured by the interpretative bias task), was significantly related to a person's rape proclivity score.\ud \ud Conclusions. This result indicates that rape-prone men may not share the same beliefs as convicted rapists, which could be a key difference between men at risk of offending, and those who have been convicted of a sexual offence.

It is generally assumed that empathy acts to disinhibit behaviour that could be perceived as detrimental to others and as a result is a common feature of offender treatment programmes. The present research hypothesised that empathy in all populations is both a situational and a selective process that is ultimately governed by self-interest and further, that it is the nature of the self-interest that distinguishes individuals rather than a general empathy deficit per se. Empathic processes were observed in a non-offending population in a personal situation normally regarded as evocative of empathy, infidelity. Thematic analysis of data from individuals who reported being faithful or unfaithful to their partners, revealed five dominant themes: Vulnerable Predisposition, Emotional Motivators, Rational Emotive Decision Making, Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance, and Lack of Remorse. The themes all revealed how individuals employed cognitive strategies, which were managed by self-interest that functioned to create cognitive states devoid of empathy.

Our studies are the first in the UK to assess empirically the psychological profiles of the most common perpetrators of sexual assault at UK universities: sexually aggressive male students. Study 1 assesses the characteristics and predictors of sexual aggression amongst university males at one UK university, whilst Study 2 evaluates the generalisability of findings across a national sample. Study 3 examines the heterogeneity of self-reported sexually aggressive students to see if they comprised a unique clinical population with shared treatment needs.\ud \ud This poster was also presented at the SeNSS Virtual Summer Conference 2020 (16-17th July).

An academic poster displayed at the Centre of Research & Education in Forensic Psychology's (CORE-FP) seminal impact event on Thursday 06th September 2019, entitled "Offending Behaviour Treatment Programmes: Where do we go from here?" The poster describes a collaborative project between the CORE-FP and Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) evaluating the FIPP and FIP-MO treatment programmes for deliberate firesetters. (Poster created by Katie Sambrooks.)

The implicit theories theory has been one of the most influential single-factor theories explaining the role of cognitive distortions in sexual offending against children (Dangerfield, Ildeniz, & �� Ciardha, 2020; Ward, 2000; Ward, Polaschek, & Beech, 2006). The dangerous world implicit theory is one of the most consistently hypothesised implicit theories across different offender groups (e.g., Beech, Fisher, & Ward, 2005; �� Ciardha & Gannon, 2012; Ward & Keenan, 1999). It refers to the core belief that the world is a dangerous place in which other people are perceived as threatening, abusive and rejecting (Ward & Keenan, 1999). Ward and Keenan proposed two versions of this theory based on the beliefs that: (1) one needs to fight back in order to achieve control over others' threatening and abusive behaviour, and (2) unlike adults who are perceived as threatening, children are seen as safe and dependable; capable of understanding one's needs and sexual desires as well as willing to gratify them. The primary goal of this thesis is to unpack and examine the conceptualisation of the dangerous world implicit theory by Ward and Keenan (1999). A series of six studies (both quantitative and qualitative) were conducted, examining the potential sub-constructs within the dangerous world implicit theory, the similarities between those and other psychological constructs in the wider literature as well as the development and the role of the dangerous world implicit theory in sexual offending against children. Overall, results suggested that the concept of dangerous world implicit theory is multi-dimensional and some of the dimensions may be developed as a result of early adverse experiences in life. The proposed multi-dimensional model in this thesis offers a unique alternative framework for understanding the concept of a dangerous world implicit theory.

Despite being recognized as a global public health emergency, there is a lack of evidence-base supporting the effectiveness of street gang interventions. In particular, street gang interventions suffer from a lack of theoretical foundation, unclear goals/objectives, and have a negative, risk-based focus. This thesis proposes that the Good Lives Model (GLM), a strengths-based framework for offender rehabilitation, can provide an innovative approach to street gang intervention. Utilizing approach-goals, the GLM assumes that improving an individual's internal skills and external opportunities will reduce the need to belong to a street gang. Prior to implementing GLM-consistent interventions with street gang members, it was essential to first establish whether the etiological assumptions of the GLM are upheld in this population. To examine this, qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 incarcerated, adult male offenders (17 street gang, 13 non-gang). Findings support all of the etiological assumptions of the GLM: street gang participants aimed to achieve each of the 11 primary goods (i.e., universal human needs). Furthermore, as suggested in the GLM, street gang participants experienced four obstacles (i.e., problems in capacity, coherence, scope and means), which prevented attainment of primary goods through prosocial means. Critically, street gang participants were more likely to experience a multitude of internal (e.g., emotion regulation difficulties, perfectionism, and poor coping skills) and external obstacles (e.g., poor social support, and exposure to violence) across all five risk domains (individual, peer, school, family and community), than their non-gang offending counterparts. Overall, the research described in this thesis suggests that the etiological assumptions of the GLM can be upheld in a street gang population; supporting the implementation of GLM-consistent interventions with street gang members.

Firesetting theory and research is growing. Recent advances include: the development of a comprehensive multifactorial theory of adult firesetting and the development of specialist group therapy that appears successful at reducing firesetting risk (Gannon, Ó Ciardha, Doley, & Alleyne, 2012; Gannon et al., 2015). However, there remains a persistent over reliance on the concept of fire interest to explain acts of deliberate firesetting, despite such a phenomena not always being present. \ud The importance of cognition in the facilitation and reinforcement of criminal behaviour has been considered in numerous offender populations. Coupled with this is an emerging body of literature suggesting that experienced offenders display a certain level of expertise in their criminal behaviour. The purpose of this thesis was to apply, and investigate, the concepts of offending expertise along with cognition-specifically the concept of scripts-to firesetting behaviour for the first time.\ud Study 1 sought to gain initial exploratory qualitative information, through conducting semi-structured interviews with incarcerated firesetters, regarding whether firesetters hold scripts and expertise with regards to firesetting. Utilising the findings from Study 1, and existing research evidence, a preliminary conceptual framework of firesetting scripts and expertise was outlined. Study 2 sought to empirically investigate the hypothesised firesetting scripts and expertise, and their relationship to the established concept of fire interest. Results suggested that, relative to comparison groups, firesetters hold scripts about fire and demonstrate firesetting expertise. Furthermore, the extent to which one identifies with fire was shown to predict firesetting scripts and both identification with fire and serious interest in fire was shown to predict firesetting expertise. Studies 3a and 3b sought to investigate firesetting expertise further, through investigating two important facets of expertise, (1) availability of firesetting heuristics, and (2) a superior ability to automatically recognise offence-related cues. Results suggested that firesetters did appear to both hold heuristics about their firesetting and demonstrate an awareness of offence-related cues, relative to offender controls. Finally, Study 4, sought to replicate the findings from Studies 1, 2, 3a, and 3b utilising a community based sample of un-apprehended firesetters. Results failed to confirm that un-apprehended firesetters demonstrate expertise. However, un-apprehended firesetters were found to be more likely, than community comparisons, to hold scripts revolving around the themes of fire being a powerful messenger and fire being a way of gaining attention. Furthermore, un-apprehended firesetters identified with fire more than community comparisons. Future research and practical implications of the proposed firesetting scripts and expertise are considered, along with limitations.

The main issue addressed within this thesis was the exploration of risk factors and dangerousness associated with firesetters. Research surrounding firesetters is sparse, and of poor quality. As a result, the risk assessment process offered to firesetters in clinical practice lacks empirical evidence. Two research studies and a systematic review provide a series of novel contributions to the field of firesetting. Study 1 identified several dynamic risk factors that were able to predict female mentally disordered firesetters. Study 2 examined conceptualizations of firesetting dangerousness. Finally, this thesis puts forward the first universal empirically based conceptualization of firesetting dangerousness. The resultant term represents a multifactorial consideration of three domains. These include: (1) motive/intent of the individual firesetter, (2) the context within which the fire has been set and (3) cognitions of the individual firesetter. More practically these are referred to as the why, what, and where/when considerations of firesetting. The combined impact of all three domains, provides a universal conceptualization of firesetting dangerousness which can be used to quantify dangerousness levels for incidents of firesetting. This thesis concludes with a discussion of the clinical application of this novel information, and how it can be used to improve rehabilitation processes.

Gang membership is a global phenomenon and a problem affecting a multitude of official and unofficial agencies, often reported by the media and causing overwhelming financial strain, as well as increasing fear of crime in communities. Whilst research on gangs has enjoyed popularity for almost a century now, this was mostly based on a criminological perspective, which did not provide a holistic picture for practitioners. Specifically, little is known about the psychology of gang membership, as such research is still in its infancy. Moreover, calls for understanding the social psychological motives for gang membership - such as gang members' perceptions of group processes, and how these influence individuals - have been present for the last 50 years but development in the area has been limited. \ud The aim of this thesis was to address some of this crucial gap in our knowledge of gang membership, to help enrich theoretical understanding, as well as prevention and rehabilitation strategies, so that these can be appropriately developed. In order for this to happen, it is key to understand which group processes lie behind gang membership based on gang members' subjective experiences, in different types of gang members, and how these relate to members' decisions to join and remain with a gang. The core assumption of gangs - that they are groups - has been largely neglected by research. The studies in this thesis provide the first holistic picture of the relevance of group processes in gang membership. The first, qualitative study, identified that group processes regularly manifesting in groups do, indeed, also manifest in gangs. It was also found that such group processes are understood by gang members in a manner specific to them. Further, the perceived group processes manifested differently at different stages of membership - when joining a gang and when remaining in a gang. The large quantitative studies that follow revealed that gangs differ from non-gang delinquent groups, and that different types of gang members differ in their perception of how group processes manifest. It was found that different types of groups and gangs were characterised by a specific set of perceived group processes. Further, these group process clusters differed, based on the stage of an individual's membership. \ud This thesis therefore uncovered that the area of social cognition based on group processes is important. The main conclusions drawn from the studies presented in this PhD are: 1) Group processes manifest in gangs and are perceived in a specific manner. 2) The perception of group processes differ in gangs and other delinquent groups, and between different types of gang members. 3) There are specific clusters of perceived group processes which characterise specific types of groups and at different stages of membership - group processes should not be dealt with in isolation. 4) The findings show that how gang members perceive group processes should be a key consideration in future research and any intervention strategies designed for gang members.

Filicide is the killing of a child by their own parents(s) (biological, adoptive or step-parent; Flynn, Windfuhr, & Shaw, 2009); infanticide and neonaticide are defined as the killing of an infant under 1 year (Flynn, Shaw, & Abel, 2007) and 24 hours old respectively (Resnick, 1969). Although filicide is rare, estimated at 1.92 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for girls and 2.93 for boys under the age of 18 (Pinheiro, 2006), it is not a recent phenomenon (Langer, 1974). Causing death by fire is reported in the literature as one of the most common methods of filicide (Adinkrah, 2001); with reported rates varying between approximately 3% (Liem & Koenraadt, 2008) and 37% (Meyer, Oberman, & White, 2001). The existing research on filicide has made little effort to examine the specificities of this group of offenders, in particular around determining possible typologies of filicide offenders by method of killing.Given the emerging interest and research in deliberate firesetters as a distinct group of offenders, it is appropriate to focus on those individuals who commit filicide by fire, a behaviour that has been largely ignored in the literature to date. To address the gap in the literature, this chapter will first provide an overview of the existing literature on filicide (with a focus on filicide by fire) and firesetting. It will then examine the shared and unique characteristics of these groups of offenders. A conceptualisation of the factors that may contribute to an individual using fire to commit filicide will be provided using the latest theory of adult firesetting, the Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (Gannon, Ó Ciardha, Doley, & Alleyne, 2012). Finally, recommendations for specific areas of treatment and further research will be made based upon the current evidence base.

Deliberate firesetting is an international problem which has devastating financial and human consequences. However, the area has received little attention from researchers and practicing professionals compared to other types of offending, thus hindering our ability to recommend how firesetters should be detected, assessment, managed, and treated. In particular, very little is understood about firesetting in imprisoned offenders, particularly in terms of their characteristics and treatment needs, and whether these differ between subtypes of imprisoned firesetter. Theoretical efforts explaining firesetting in imprisoned offenders have also been poor, especially in terms of their empirical adequacy and understanding how the offence process might unfold.\ud The purpose of this thesis was to extend current knowledge of firesetting in adult male imprisoned offenders by examining the characteristics, treatment needs, and offence processes associated with different types of imprisoned firesetter. Four studies were conducted in this thesis. Study one examined whether specialist treatment is required for all imprisoned firesetters or whether more generic treatment approaches might be sufficient for some types of imprisoned firesetters. Study two evaluated the existence of different types of imprisoned firesetter based on the most comprehensive firesetting theory to date, the Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (Gannon, Ó Ciardha, Doley, & Alleyne, 2012). Finally, studies three and four examined the offence process and the potential pathways imprisoned firesetters follow to offending. \ud The studies in this thesis highlight there are important differences between subtypes of adult male imprisoned firesetters. Three key conclusions were drawn from the combined findings: (i) different types of imprisoned firesetter have different fire-related deficits; (ii) different types of imprisoned firesetter have different treatment needs; and (iii) the findings highlight the importance of considering different target populations and different types of firesetter in theory development and evaluation. Limitations and future research directions are considered.

Deliberate firesetting causes a significant cost to society in terms of human life and economic loss. However, compared to other areas of offending, firesetting is one area that has received relatively little attention by academics and practitioners in both the psychiatric and psychological literature. Even though a significant proportion of existing research has been conducted with psychiatric populations little is understood about firesetting by mentally disordered offenders, particularly in terms of their characteristics, risk factors, offence process, and treatment. \ud \ud The purpose of this thesis was to extend current knowledge of mentally disordered firesetters by exploring the offence process, treatment needs, and effectiveness of treatment with this population. Four exploratory studies were conducted to address this. Study one examined the characteristics of male and female mentally disordered firesetters in comparison to non-firesetting mentally disordered offenders and also the ability of these characteristics to predict offence status (firesetter or non-firesetter) and repeat firesetting. Studies two and three examined the offence process and the pathways mentally disordered firesetters follow to offending. Finally, study four evaluated the effectiveness of the first standardised treatment programme for male and female mentally disordered firesetters. \ud \ud The studies in this thesis highlighted the importance of fire interest in distinguishing between firesetters and non-firesetters and also for the predicting of repeat firesetting. Further, the development of fire-related risk factors appeared to be important for influencing the offence process for a sub-group of mentally disordered firesetters. The role of mental health in the offence process was also highlighted as being important. Finally, evidence was found to support the need for specialist interventions examining fire related factors with mentally disordered firesetters. \ud \ud The results of all four studies are discussed in terms of the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered firesetters and the clinical implications and utility of the findings are considered.

This academic poster was displayed at the School of Psychology's Annual PhD Conference 2019 at the University of Kent on Monday, 16th September 2019. The poster outlines the findings of the first empirical study of my PhD, which assesses the treatment needs of sexually aggressive male university students at one university in the South East of England.