It is undeniable fact that cultural differences affect forensic assessment to a greater extent. Because of the cultural inclination, forensic assessment always produces results that are biased towards a particular culture (Fernandez, 2013). It’s worth noting that forensic investigators are members of some cultures; therefore, all their thinking and decision significantly reflects their cultural values. However, it should be pointed out that not all decisions made by forensic assessors are biased towards their culture of origin; consumers of these data must trust them and allow the notion of professionalism to prevail. Forensic investigators are taken through compulsory training to delineate them from culturally biased thinking.
Having gone through the appropriate cultural psychiatry, I knew I would be able to deliver a just judgment upon an individual from a different culture. The primary objective of cultural psychiatry is to help an individual succinctly contextualize his personal actions and experiences, contrary to the notion of cultural judgment. My expertise would allow me to make independent decisions, free from any cultural impediments (Jarvis, 2011). Furthermore, as a requirement to deliver a just judgment, I would employ cultural consultations, interpreters and cultural brokers in the process of my judgment, all these would clearly reveal to me the role played by culture on an individual’s psychopathology.
Even though putting behavior in a cultural context may lead to cultural stereotyping and stigmatization of individuals based on their cultures of origin, the process helps a great deal in unearthing the role played by culture in their behavior (Jarvis, 2011). As a matter of fact, before any evaluation, it’s appropriate to go through a cultural familiarization process to understand an individual’s behavior. All these enable an assessor to understand the power culture and relationships among the minority and dominant culture. Over the years, evaluations have been biased towards the dominant culture; fortunately, cultural psychiatry takes care of this (Fernandez, 2013). The big question arises as to whether the forensic assessment can be carried out independently without cultural considerations and if a cultural psychiatry completely eradicates cultural inclination.
References
Fernandez, L. (2013). The Cultural Formulation: A Method of AssessingCultural Factors Affecting the Clinical Encounter. Pearson, New York, NJ: Pearson Hall Publishers.
Jarvis, R. (2011). The Cultural Context of Clinical Assessment, in Psychiatry. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, NY: John Wiley and Sons Publishers.
