The place of culture in forensic psychiatry

Abstract

Members of a multicultural society must all be subject to the same equitable system of justice. However, culture exerts profound influences on human behavior, and cultural considerations have a place in determinations of capacity and in appropriate sentencing. Cultural psychiatry can contribute to forensic psychiatry by helping to contextualize individuals' actions and experiences. This contextualizing can be done through cultural consultations that employ interpreters and culture brokers to identify the role of culture in individuals' psychopathology. Clarifying how cultural background has affected individuals' capacity to form a criminal intent or control their behavior may allow a better determination of level of culpability and guide appropriate sentencing. However, framing behavior as culturally influenced may also stereotype and stigmatize specific groups. To avoid this, culture must be understood in terms of power relationships between minority groups and the dominant society. Cultural factors are not only relevant to the experience of specific groups but pervade the entire judicial system shaping the process of moral and legal reasoning.