Canter and Fritzon identified four distinct themes to arson. In an "expressive" arson directed at a person, the attack is directed inward and stems from anxiety and possibly depression or suicidal thoughts. In an "instrumental" arson directed at a person, the attack is directed outward against another person, possibly as revenge for a perceived wrong against the offender. In an "expressive" arson directed at an object, the offender sets fires as a form of emotional acting out and in order to release tension. An "instrumental" arson directed at an object reflects an attempt to obtain benefit by changing the aspects of the object, for example, by setting fire to hide evidence of another crime. In order to determine whether these arson crime-scene behavioral patterns are replicated for juvenile firesetters, the current study investigated the crime-scene actions and offender characteristics of 61 male and 5 female juvenile firesetters (aged 6-17 years). The data were obtained from a larger database initially collected and content analyzed by Fritzon (1998). A total of 43 dichotomous crime-scene actions, 17 offender background characteristics, and offender criminal record variables had been coded. Smallest space analysis was used to measure the configuration of crime-scene actions and offender characteristics. The distinct structural themes for crime-scene actions identified by Canter and Fritzon were found in juvenile firesetting. Contrary to Canter and Fritzon, however, only two groups of background characteristics were identified, depressed and delinquent, with the latter being more common and related to an instrumental form of firesetting. The expressive form of firesetting was associated with offenders' psychopathology and female gender. The presence of a crime-scene action theme was associated with the offender's age. The study concluded that the structural themes of firesetting behavior appear at an early age. The background characteristics of juvenile firesetters indicate that juvenile firesetting is often associated with antisocial behavior and psychopathology. This suggests the importance of targeted prevention, intervention, and investigation programs. 3 figures, 2 tables, 35 references, and an appended listing and defining of offense and offender variables