Dr. Zaw is Adjunct Professor, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA and Consulting Psychologist, Department of State Hospitals-FSD, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Sreenivasan is an SVP Evaluator, Department of State Hospitals-FSD, Sacramento, CA and Adjunct Clinical Professor, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Sidhu is a private practitioner and SVP Evaluator, Department of State Hospitals-FSD, Sacramento, CA.
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2024 Mar 11;52(1):71-79. doi: 10.29158/JAAPL.230115-23.
Forensic evaluators may have little experience and knowledge of the political context of Myanmar, the Burmese people, and the refugee crisis. Oppression of several ethnic minority groups has marked Burmese military rule of Myanmar for several decades. Protracted trauma exposure, both pre- and post-migration, among refugee populations increases the risk for mental health disorders, particularly depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder. These experiences may result in anger and psychiatric manifestations that bring Burmese refugees in conflict with the law in their host country. Culture influences how mental distress is experienced and reported, and it can influence a forensic evaluator's assessment of psychological-legal matters, such as competency to stand trial and asylum evaluations. The salience of cultural competence becomes particularly pressing given the small number of those of Burmese background in the United States. Most evaluations will be performed by forensic mental health professionals who are not Burmese in ethnicity, nor familiar with Burmese culture. In this article, we provide a backdrop of the military suppression of ethnic minorities prior to discussing the integration of cultural matters in forensic assessments of competency to stand trial, competency for extradition, and asylum seekers in Burmese refugees.
法庭心理学家可能对缅甸的政治背景、缅甸人民和难民危机知之甚少、经验有限。几十年来，缅甸军政府一直压迫着几个少数民族群体。难民群体在移民前后都长期遭受创伤，这增加了心理健康障碍的风险，尤其是抑郁、焦虑、酗酒和创伤后应激障碍。这些经历可能导致愤怒和精神症状，使缅甸难民在东道国与法律发生冲突。文化影响着精神痛苦的体验和报告方式，也会影响法庭心理学家对心理法律问题的评估，例如审判能力和庇护评估。鉴于在美国，缅甸背景的人数量较少，文化能力的重要性变得尤为紧迫。大多数评估将由法庭心理健康专业人员进行，他们在种族上不是缅甸人，也不熟悉缅甸文化。在本文中，我们先介绍了少数民族在军事上受到压迫的背景，然后讨论了在对审判能力、引渡能力和缅甸难民庇护寻求者的法庭评估中纳入文化因素的问题。
