A Longitudinal Evaluation of the FIP-MO Firesetting Intervention
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Long Term Effectiveness of the Firesetting Intervention Programme for Mentally Disordered Offenders (FIP-MO): Group versus Individual Delivery Outcomes and Impact on Reoffending
IRAS ID
244592
Contact name
Nichola Tyler
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Kent
Duration of Study in the UK
14 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Adults who set deliberate fires are frequently encountered by clinicians working in forensic settings. However, there has been a distinct lack of focus on developing and evaluating psychological interventions to address this behaviour. Recently, Gannon and Lockerbie developed a specialist treatment programme for adult deliberate firesetters; The Firesetting Intervention Programme for Mentally Disordered Offenders (FIP-MO; Gannon & Lockerbie, 2011, 2012, 2014). Tyler et al. (2018) evaluated the effectiveness of this intervention by comparing within-treatment change for those who attended FIP-MO with a Treatment as Usual comparison group. The initial evaluation showed that firesetters who attended FIP-MO made greater improvements immediately post-treatment on the majority of treatment targets.
Although the findings of the initial evaluation of the FIP-MO were positive, the evaluation only focused on short-term treatment gains and the effectiveness of treatment when delivered in a group format, which is not always feasible dependent on clinical need. Thus, at present it is not possible to draw any conclusions as to whether there are any long-term benefits from engaging in this specialist treatment programme, as evidenced by actual behavioural change (e.g., a reduction in actual firesetting and fire risk-related behaviours). This study aims to extend the previous research in two ways: (1) by examining the long-term effectiveness of specialist treatment for adult deliberate firesetters and, (2) by examining any differences in treatment outcomes when the FIP-MO is delivered in a group versus an individual (1:1) format.
The research will adopt a multi-site quasi-experimental design with a reoffending arm. Adult men and women with a history of deliberate firesetting already undertaking the FIP-MO, either in a group or on an individual basis, as part of their standard care pathway will be invited to participate in the research. Participants will simply be asked to provide consent (a) to release an anonymised copy of the questionnaires that they routinely complete pre- and post-treatment, (b) for demographic information to be collected from their hospital files, and (c) for conviction data to be collected about them from the Police National Computer System (PNC) for seven years pre and post FIP-MO participation.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0602
Date of REC Opinion
11 Apr 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion