title: Crime and mental disorders among native Dutch and ethnic minority juvenile defendants in the Netherlands.
abstract: We examined the prevalence of mental disorders and the recommendations regarding criminal responsibility and treatment in pre-trial mental health evaluations requested by Dutch juvenile courts for youths between the ages of 12 to 17. Youths of native Dutch (n=2694) and of ethnic minority background (n=1393) were compared. The prevalence of mental disorders was similar for both groups (76.8% versus 74.4%). Criminal responsibility in native Dutch youth was more often considered 'diminished' or 'strongly diminished' than in ethnic minority youth. Admission to a juvenile institution was more often recommended for ethnic minority juveniles than for native Dutch juveniles. It remains unclear from our data whether these differences reflect a false stereotype of ethnic minority populations as being more dangerous and threatening.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, The Netherlands. d.vinkers@dji.minjus.nl
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Vinkers
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Duits
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003415:Crime / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence