Cultural and Linguistic Considerations in Forensic Mental Health Assessment

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>As Western societies become increasingly multicultural, clinical psychologists often confront individuals from diverse backgrounds. This diversity can take the form of cultural, linguistic, ethnic, or religious differences, often in combination with one another. Moreover, these cultural differences can dramatically impact the accuracy of psychological evaluations. Few mental health settings are more significantly impacted by ethnic and cultural differences than forensic settings, because of both the potential importance of forensic evaluations as well as the high frequency with which culturally and linguistically diverse individuals become intertwined with the legal system. This book summarizes the emerging research, providing concrete practice guidelines for conducting forensic mental health evaluations with individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The goal of this book is to provide a foundation for both established clinicians and trainees who seek to enhance their ability to conduct culturally informed forensic evaluations.</jats:p>