Does culture impact on notions of criminal responsibility and action? The case of spirit possession.
Transcultural Psychiatry October 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1177/1363461516661642 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Agency Cultural defense Culture Justice Spirit possession |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Using a cultural defense can aid understanding of an individual's relationship to society and facilitate justice in a multicultural society. |
Abstract
Multicultural societies such as the United Kingdom are host to people with diverse belief systems and behavioral norms. Whilst a country requires that all members of society conform to standardized legal requirements, cases arise that involve certain complexities related to the cultural or religious context in which a certain action was committed. This paper addresses the impact of culture on notions of criminal responsibility and action. Through a case study of a recent event in the United Kingdom, we explore whether a cultural defense is relevant for contextualizing incidents in which an individual commits a criminal action during an alleged period of spirit possession From this analysis, we suggest that using a cultural defense can aid understanding of an individual's relationship to the society that he or she identifies with and facilitate the practice of justice in a multicultural society.