Publicado
Incendiarios. "Es preferible morir por el fuego, en combate, que morir en casa, por el hambre: Fidel Castro"
Firefighters "It is preferable to die by fire, in combat, than to die at home, by hunger: Fidel Castro"
Palabras clave:
crimen, piromanía, psiquiatría forense, trastornos mentales (es)Arson, Crime, Firesetting Behavior, Forensic Psychiatry, Mental Disorders, Pyromania (en)
Antecedentes. El concepto de fuego siempre ha atraído la atención del hombre. En la literatura abundan referencias a este término, que tanto puede representar poder y pasión como terror y destrucción. El incendio es un delito de fácil ejecución, pero de difícil investigación. La prevalencia de este delito es de 1,13%. La incidencia de este crimen está creciendo alrededor del mundo, provocando un impacto social importante por las pérdidas financieras, muertes, lesiones físicas y secuelas emocionales dejadas en sus víctimas. El comportamiento incendiario puede ser observado desde la infancia, siendo que cerca de la mitad de los individuos presos por incendios se encuentran en la adolescencia. El consumo de alcohol está asociado a la conducta incendiaria, en la mitad de individuos que cometieron tal delito motivados por venganza.
Objetivo. Revisar los estudios más recientes sobre el perfil de los incendiarios, las características diagnósticas, los factores de riesgo, la neurobiología, el tratamiento, la reincidencia y el pronóstico.
Material y métodos. Revisión de la literatura. En la revisión de la literatura se encuentran que los incendiarios son una categoría heterogénea de criminales. Se torna interesante el desarrollo de una clasificación para los mismos, considerando las características del agresor, la presencia de eventual enfermedad mental, los aspectos del crimen y las motivaciones.
Conclusión. Hasta el presente, la población de incendiarios estudiada es subrepresentada, pues apenas un pequeño porcentaje es enviado para evaluación diagnóstica y tratamiento. Se expone, así, una incongruencia entre los grandes daños emocionales y financieros, causadas por este delito, y la atención que él recibe de la comunidad científica.
Background. The concept of fire has always attracted human attention. There are abundant references to the term in worldwide literature, representing power and passion as well as terror and destruction. Deliberately setting fire to something/someone is an easily executed crime (arson), though difficult to research. This crime has 1.13% prevalence and its incidence is growing around the world, provoking an important social impact due to its victims' financial loss, death, physical lesions and emotional aftermath. Arsonist-type behaviour can be observed from infancy onwards, as more than half the people imprisoned for arson are adolescents. Consuming alcohol has been associated with arsonist-type conduct in half the individuals committing such crime who were motived by revenge.
Objective. Reviewing the most recent studies concerning an arsonis's profile, the diagnostic characteristics, the risk factors, neurobiological treatment, recidivism and prognosis.
Materials and Methods. A literature review revealed that arsonists represent a heterogeneous criminal category. The development of classification for them thus becomes interesting, considering the aggressor's characteristics, the presence of eventual mental disease, aspects regarding the crime and motivation.
Conclusion. The population of arsonists studied has been underrepresented to date, as just a small percentage is sent for diagnostic evaluation and treatment. Incongruence thus arises between the great emotional and financial damage caused by this crime, and the attention given it by the scientific community.
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