ABSTRACT
A growing body of forensic literature has underscored the need for clinical methods and approaches to accommodate individualised treatments for clients from different cultural backgrounds. This has led to a broader discussion on the unique needs of offenders and patients from minority cultural backgrounds and how forensic clinicians can work more effectively with these populations. Globalisation has prompted immigration trends across and within countries, rapidly changing their ethnocultural landscapes. In Australia, nearly half the population either are born overseas or have a parent born overseas. This growing diversity is reflected in both Australia’s prison and forensic populations. This chapter will outline the literature on the varying cultural needs, presentations, and risk factors of culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the Australian context, the extent to which clinicians may need to consider these phenomena, and universal recommendations for culturally responsive forensic practice. Directions are offered for working with such populations in various psycho-legal contexts (i.e., clinical assessment, diagnoses, treatment, and risk assessment), and an integrated model of cross-cultural assessment will be introduced.
