Difficulties of Cultural Diversity: An Exploratory Study Into Forensic Psychiatric Reporting on Serious Juvenile Offenders in the Netherlands

• NCJ Number: 216220
• Journal: Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 45 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 55-69
• Author(s): Mieke Komen
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 15 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the difficulties associated with forensic psychiatrists' assessments of the personalities of ethnic-minority and ethnically Dutch juvenile offenders as a means of assisting Dutch juvenile courts in deciding the type and duration of sentences.

Abstract

The study indicates that a psychiatric diagnosis is often more difficult for ethnic minority boys than for their ethnically Dutch peers, since ethnic minority boys more often present themselves in a threatening and manipulative manner while tending to conceal more authentic aspects of their personalities. Further, forensic psychiatrists are handicapped by an inadequate knowledge of and sensitivity to the minority cultures from which these juveniles come. This suggests the need for a broader cross-cultural approach to the psychiatric assessment of ethnic minority youth that would produce valid comprehensive personality assessments. Given the priority that juvenile courts give to forensic psychiatric assessments in sentencing, every effort should be made to increase the accuracy and validity of these reports. Until this has been accomplished, the courts should interpret these reports with caution, particularly when ethnic-minority youth are involved. The findings of this study are based on analyses of personality reports and sentence recommendations produced by psychiatrists attached to the juvenile courts. The youths who were the subjects of these reports were sentenced to a youth custodial institution in the year 2000 (n=164). This is the most severe sanction available for juvenile offenders under Dutch criminal law. The sample consisted of 152 boys and 12 girls. Forty-five percent were ethnically Dutch, 17 percent Moroccan, 15 percent Surinamese, 10 percent Antillean, and 2 percent Turkish; the remaining 11 percent included youths from Iran, Somalia and other African countries, former Yugoslavia, and other former East bloc countries, as well as adopted children from Third World countries. 1 table and 38 references