Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 4:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Community Trauma and Access to Mental Health Care: Using Mixed Methodology to Uncover Need, Barriers and Innovative Pathways

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Criminal Behavior in Adolescent Immigrant Boys in Denmark: A Content Analysis of 14 Case Studies

Purpose: High unemployment, poor education, low income, and an inability to speak Danish often leave immigrant parents in Denmark culturally separated from their host population. Even though the Danish State grants universal health and mental health services for all citizens and residents, immigrant adolescents are not always being offered relevant help. Immigrant adolescents often find themselves engaged in criminal activities that bring them to the attention of the authorities. By Danish municipalities this behavior is most often attributed to antisocial behavior stemming from their immigration experience. The purpose of this study was to examine psychosocial factors associated with criminal activities in adolescent immigrant boys living in Denmark in order to gain insight into access and barriers to care.

Method: Data was drawn from in-depth case studies of 14 immigrant adolescent boys ages 13-16 years old referred for psychological examination by Danish municipalities after having been arrested for criminal behavior. The investigator systematically reviewed psychosocial histories, psychiatric histories of the adolescent boys and their families, and conducted semi-structured interviews to reveal psychosocial factors associated with criminal behavior. Clinical psychologists, trained in the technique of Structural Interviewing, conducted the interviews. The investigator then analyzed the transcribed interviews following principles of emergent coding of the content. The data was then compared to qualitative and quantitative studies of Danish and Swedish adolescent boys engaged in similar criminal behavior.

Results: Results of this study provided insight regarding psychosocial issues facing the immigrant adolescents. The data revealed that immigrant and Danish adolescent boys who engage in criminal activity have similar psychosocial circumstances such as parental neglect, use of corporal punishment, and unemployment, divorce, psychiatric illness and substance abuse among parents. Furthermore, the psychological interview found that a high number of the adolescents also had more severe psychopathology than had previously been assessed by Danish municipalities. Although Danish municipalities had identified both the Danish and the immigrant adolescents at an earlier point in the adolescents’ lives, Danish teens were more likely to receive psychosocial and psychological intervention sooner than their immigrant counterparts.

Implications for Practice: The findings from this study suggest that immigrant families have less access to mental health services than Danish families. By simply attributing criminal behavior to circumstances of immigration, Danish municipalities fail to notice the seriousness of behavioral and emotional problems experienced by immigrant adolescent boys that warrant attention by mental health professionals. These results underscore a critical need for outreach to immigrant families who face a high level of separation from the host population as well as a challenge for the Danish mental health system to adapt services sensitive to immigrant families.

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