Forensic assessment of firesetting: new perspectives on the human-fire relationship
Training delivered by Dr Faye Horsley, in partnership with Tully Training Ltd
Friday 28th March 2025, 09:30 - 16:30 approx timings, live online via WebEx
Training Overview
Risk assessment is central to effective risk management. In the forensic context, there are commonly used ‘go-to’ tools in areas like general violence (e.g. HCR-20v3), sexual risk (e.g. RSVPv2), and so on. In the absence of formal assessment tools specifically designed for firesetting, there is a lack of consistency in how forensic practitioners currently assess risk where someone has a history of setting fires. Professionals also report low confidence in this area and may typically use a general violence risk tool without special consideration of firesetting-specific factors.
This training examines firesetting from a novel, contemporary, and inter-disciplinary angle, which starts with a look at the long and complex relationship between humans and fire. The premise of this training is that the human-fire relationship needs to be understood in its entirety before we can understand why some people come to misuse fire, in the form of firesetting.
Dr Faye Horsley is the trainer of this event, which she has designed by drawing on her own recent research in the field, along with other contemporary research and theory to offer a fresh new perspective on understanding fire and fire use, with a view to guiding forensic assessment and formulation with firesetters.
Cost
This training costs £360 inclusive of VAT.
As part of this price, you will receive a copy of Faye’s book New Perspectives on Arson and Firesetting: the Human-Fire Relationship which will be sent to you around 2 weeks before the event.
How to book
Please email us to request a booking form:
rich@tullyforensicpsychology.com
On receipt of your completed form we will send you an invoice with details of how to pay.
Aims of training
To increase delegates’ interdisciplinary knowledge of fire use and firesetting, and their competence and confidence in completing risk assessments and formulations relating to those who set fires.
Who should attend?
This training is aimed at any professional involved in forensic risk assessment e.g. psychologists, psychiatrists, nursing professionals, other mental health and justice staff, and those ‘in training’ in these roles. Participants will be expected to have some existing knowledge and familiarty with risk assessment and formulation in the forensic context, as this training aims to inform their current practice.
What is covered?
- A contemporary framework for thinking about fire use and misuse; the Continuuum of Fire Use (Horsley, 2020, 2021, 2022).
- Contextual factors to underpin work with firesetters, including culture, early experiences, fire learning, and societal representations of fire.
- Discussion of a step-by-step evidence-based approach to conducting risk assessments, considering static and dynamic factors, developing formulations, and managing risk posed by people who set fires.
- The challenges of conducting assessments on firesetters in prison and hospital settings, including the importance of monitoring risk paralleling behaviour and how this might manifest in important, and subtle ways.
About the trainer
Dr Faye Horsley is Chartered by the British Psychological Society (BPS), a full member of the Division of Forensic Psychology (DFP), registered as a Practitioner (Forensic) Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), an Associate Fellow of the BPS, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Faye has 20 years of experience working in prison and secure hospital settings with people who have criminal convictions. As a practitioner, Faye specialises in the assessment of violent offenders, particularly firesetters, as well as people with a range of mental health diagnoses. Alongside her practitioner role, Faye is an Assistant Professor at an esteemed university, with ten years of research expertise in fire use and firesetting. She has a Ph.D from Durham University with a thesis entitled Arson Reconceptualised: the Continuum of Fire Use, and multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. Faye has also published book chapters and released her first book in 2022 entitled New Perspectives on Arson and Firesetting: the Human-Fire Relationship. The unique combination of Faye’s practitioner background and academic experience means that she can ‘bring material to life’ with realistic case studies and first-hand experiences, whilst taking an evidence-based approach.