I am going to try writing this next paper for my research and methods class completely different than I have ever written a paper before. I am going to blog some research and ideas so I can receive some feedback from my peers to hopefully improve not only my writing style but my content. I am hoping that by documenting all of my ideas for the members of Progressive U to see, you all will be able to point out some things that I may be leaving out. Then maybe the final result will be the best paper I have ever written!
The research topic I chose was juvenile firesetters. I chose this topic because I feel that not enough research has been done on this. The majority of all house fires are started by kids, mostly started accidentally and due to nothing more than curiosity. Most fires ruled as arson are set by juveniles under the age of eighteen. These are the ones I am more concerned about. The number of arsons documented are only the ones where the perpetrator has been caught. A large list of unsolved arsons exist.
In these cases, I suspect that the majority were set by juveniles. My thinking is that kids often vandalize with absolutely no motive at all. One of the things the police do to catch a criminal is to establish some sort of motive. If there is no motive, the chances of catching the criminal decreases significantly.
Why are juveniles starting fires? By setting fires, they can feel powerful. Maybe they feel powerless in so many other aspects of their lives, they need to feel there is something they can control. Many firesetters are victims of abuse. Setting fires is a way for them to deal with their emotions since they often lack any other outlet.
This is only the beginning of my gathering data for my research. Part 2 will probably have more percentages and other concrete data. If anyone would like to know the sources of the information I have gathered so far, just let me know and I can add them. All of the information written in this blog are the direct result of research on the topic of firesetters and not entirely (a little is) personal opinion.
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