Dr. Williams is the founder and President of the Center for Arson Research and was awarded the honor of appointment as a Distinguished Fellow by the International Association of Forensic Nurses for outstanding contributions to the field for her work with arsonists. Dr. Williams lectures at home and abroad on firesetting, fire bombing and domestic terrorism. She appears regularly in the print and visual media and consults with federal, state and local criminal justice agencies throughout the United States and with the Home Office in the United Kingdom as well as other countries. Dr. Williams wrote a chapter on treatment strategies for firesetters for a forensic textbook published in 2005 and wrote a textbook entitled, Understanding the Arsonist: From Assessment to Confession, available for sale through her office or Lawyers and Judges Publishing Company. A second, expanded edition of the text is currently underway. A current project involves comparative research into female firesetting behavior with a colleague in Australia.


A few words from Dr. Williams ...

Greetings all! I was asked to compose an informal biographical sketch on the course and focus of my career and was pleased to hear that it will be highlighted during the launch of the American Institute of Forensic Education (AIFE) website as the inaugural "forensic spotlight".

My basic discipline is that of a psychiatric nurse and it has been a wonderful career choice for me. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity of training in multiple modalities. For instance, I received three years of training and supervision in Gestalt therapy as well as training in the treatment of sexual deviance, psychodrama, behavior modification and encounter process. At each learning opportunity, I was taught and mentored by leaders in the field for which I am profoundly grateful. I have worked at many levels of mental health and substance abuse treatment, either in a clinical or administrative capacity.

For a considerable amount of time, many of the clients I encountered were involved simultaneously in some aspects of the behavioral health and criminal justice system. Although I felt quite comfortable in the world of behavioral health, much of the criminal justice system was unknown to me. I decided to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice to better understand the system and the impact on clients. That proved to be of enormous help in establishing the foundation of my consulting company, The Center for Arson Research.

During the mid-70s (showing my age), I worked with deviant and dangerous sex offenders in a unique and wonderful outpatient clinic in Kentucky. That experience allowed me to develop an interest in the development of deviant conduct. I conducted a kind of quasi-research through extensive interviews of the offenders on the earliest remembered aberrant behaviors. To my surprise, many of them recalled early childhood firesetting which was either undetected or unrecognized as dangerous and meaningful. A significant number of the population admitted that firesetting continued for them to the present day, was a secret behavior and served to reduce stress and anxiety. That initial experience led me to develop a keen interest in firesetting behavior, overall and I turned to the literature for a better understanding. Unfortunately, much that was published did not replicate the actual experiences of the clients which led me along the path to more questions than answers. Over the course of the next number of years, I began to receive recognition for first person research with firesetters, both adults and children.

By 1984, a number of my colleagues and I realized that we were getting consistent requests to evaluate known or suspected firesetters and so, in 1985, the Center for Arson Research was created. At this time in our history, I am very pleased to say that we enjoy an impeccable reputation for the assessment of risk and determination of firesetting subtypes. For example, we work around the US and abroad with police and fire investigators, lawyers and judges, mental health facilities and federal agencies to assist in developing strategies for apprehension and/or treatment and intervention and to provide expert witness testimony.

As the mid-90s rolled around, I realized that I needed to complete a doctorate and used my experience and data to write a dissertation on juvenile firesetting behavior. At this point in the history of the Center, I am very pleased to mention that we had more than enough data to allow me to complete a textbook two years ago, Understanding the Arsonist: From Assessment to Confession, published by Lawyers & Judges Publishing Co.

I also am a full time assistant professor in criminal justice at West Chester University in West Chester, PA and thoroughly enjoy my teaching experience there. The faculty and chairperson of the department are outstanding and the reason I made the decision to get on board full time with them a number of years ago.

In summary, I can say with perfect candor that I have enjoyed my career thus far enormously. Because I lecture around the world, I have had the opportunity to meet people from many cultures and disciplines. Those of us at the Center for Arson Research believe we are making a contribution to the understanding of firesetting behavior. Because we also are domestic terrorism profilers, we are engaged in community safety issues-important to all of us in these troubled times.

Thank you for the opportunity of writing to you.
Dian Williams