Neurobiological Information and Consideration in Dutch Pre-trial Forensic Reports of Juvenile Criminal Offenders

Abstract

The increasing scientific evidence about the role of neurobiological factors in criminal behavior may affect daily practice of forensic assessment of young criminal offenders. We therefore investigated whether Dutch forensic experts increasingly include neurobiological factors in their pre-trial forensic reports and how this information was used in forensic considerations and recommendations. We used a sample of 232 pre-trial forensic reports (2005–2015) of adolescent and young adult (12–25) offenders with information on acquired brain injury, neurological disorder and/or a genetic abnormality. Attention to these neurobiological factors in relation to forensic questions in our sample was low and did not increase over the years. In addition, even when forensic experts mentioned a relation between neurobiological information and the index offense, this information was often not considered in questions regarding future risk and risk management. Forensic experts should pay more attention to neurobiological risk factors in both their assessment and further considerations and recommendations.