Catching an arsonist through search patterns and practices.

Arsonist`s Patterns and Practices
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Introduction
There are some mental health issues, and arsonists form a part of the group that is largely affected. These are the people who develop tendencies that drive them to derive pleasure from setting things on fire. There is a wide area of study dedicated to arsonists in a bid to try and understand why they behave in such a manner. Like most criminals, some patterns and practices set them apart. When profiling an arsonist, some characteristics come up, and they tend to be unique (Blumberg, 1981). For investigators, these characteristics are associated with patterns and practices that they look for to identify who could be behind such acts.
Arsonist Menace
Much of the dedication to studying the behavior of arsonists is relative to the statistics about fires. An estimated 25% of all fires are attributed to arsonists. This is to mean that more than a quarter of the fires that take place are associated with someone having been involved.
‘National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Data: According to the NFPA, arsonists set fires that destroyed $663 million worth of property in 2013, down 62 percent from $1,061 million in 2012. These include fires at factories, residential buildings and churches and in a motor vehicle and other types of vehicles. There were 10,500 vehicle arsons in 2013, compared with 12,500 in 2012, one of which produced $400 million in losses from a fire set aboard a U.S. submarine.’ (Armstrong Forensic, 2018)
As shown in the statistics above from the National Fire Protection Association, the figures for the arson fires, the destruction they cause to the property and the loss of life involved are quite significant. This is just a short trail of data available on the number of arsons and the impact that they have not just in America but across the globe (Blumberg, 1981). Most of the countries across the globe have implemented anti-arson laws, showing the seriousness of this vice.
Motives
There are a number of elements that define the patterns and practices that arsonists can easily be associated with. For investigators, the first element that they work with is the motive. One of the main factors to consider is arsonists are malicious and as such are attracted to vandalistic patterns and practices. In most of the cases, where vandalism is the motive, the incidence can be traced to juveniles who take part in acts just for fun. In most of the cases, these incidences will involve more than one individual and peer pressure is a determinant. The other factor is revenge, which related to retaliatory for real or perceived injustices. These incidences take on four main approaches, which include group, institutional, societal or personal (Blumberg, 1981). It also happens to be the most common pattern when it comes to a serial arsonist. There is also a crime concealment, where criminals will commit a crime such as murder and then set the house on fire to eliminate any evidence. Profit is also a strong motivator, and this is common in the business realm for varied reasons. These span from eliminating competition, insurance fraud, gaining employment, dissolving businesses, destroying inventory among others. Then there is the motivation that comes from extremist practices which relate to elements such as terrorism. These will largely be associated with political or religious motives.
Profile
Other than the motive, there are elements of the arsonists that can be quite easily identified and they act as a guide. This is large because, they have been established over time to fit in with the patterns and the practices of most arsonists (Burton, McNiel & Binder, 2012). The first factor to consider is gender. It is well established that most of the offenders tend to be male. Very few cases that have been established a point to the females being motivated to commit such acts. Most of the serial ...