contributed by Aubrey Baldwin, Phillip Fischio, Anthony Greenaway, Laura Loop, and Katelynn Olsen (students in the Museums & Archives Certificate Program).
Fire, arson, danger. Most people don’t associate these words with children; however the work of George A. Sakheim might suggest otherwise.
Card taken from Sakheim’s original collection, which states his research. Box M6591; Folder 1
George A. Sakheim, a clinical psychologist, did most of his research on the fire-setting behaviors of children during the 1970s to the early 2000s. Dr. Sakheim’s discoveries led to various published works on child arsonists. Overall, his work contributed to a greater understanding of a topic that previously was not well understood.
Most of the information was garnered through therapy sessions with minor fire-setter case studies. Many of the children that Dr. Sakheim worked with suffered from mental illness, which may have contributed to their fire-setting behaviors. Part of his work involved assessing the level of risk exhibited by each child. He ranked each patient as minor, moderate, or severe. Dr. Sakheim performed many different tests to create these rankings. One such test was an exercise allowing the children to draw something associated to what they were discussing in therapy.
Example of a patient’s drawing. Box M6592; Folder 11
The various cases that Dr. Sakheim reviewed of child and adolescent fire-setters made him an expert on the subject. His expertise secured him a consulting position with the New York State Office of Developmental Disabilities and Mental Retardation. He also wrote several books and articles on the topic, helping the psychological community gain a better understanding of the phenomenon.
Juvenile Firesetters in Residential Treatment by George A. Sakheim et al. Box M6609; Folder 2
Dr. Sakheim’s archival papers documenting this work are now available at the Cumming’s Center for the History of Psychology. The papers contain 20 letter size document cases and 1 record storage box, all relating to Dr. Sakheim’s work. All of the patient files are restricted, including cassette tapes of interviews with firesetters, but Dr. Sakheim’s research and written works are open for research. View the finding aid for the George Sakheim papers for more details.
The processing of this archival collection fulfilled requirements for students enrolled in the course Foundations of Museums and Archives I.
