Originally Posted by Surreal Farber

I included the background so that you'd know that there were no external resources. No money for counseling, no overworked social worker available. Pretty much the grandmother's only option at this point would be to send the child to juvenile detention.

Consider this - the boy set fire to the house where an elderly woman and two younger children were asleep. They were unbelievably fortunate to escape with only one gutted room. (considering fire dept response times in inner cities)

At the time I heard about the situation, it had been several months with no more fires set - long-term, I don't know if it stuck.

I wouldn't advocate burning a child under normal circumstances, but I think in this situation, it may have been the only choice left that didn't involve a cage.