The blurred vision of Lady Justice for minors with mental disorders: Records of the juvenile court in Belgium

AbstractPurpose tudy examined (1) the information present in juvenile court records in Belgium (Flanders) and (2) whether there are differences in information between records that mention a mental disorder and those that do not. le study sample included 107 court records, and we used a Pearsonʹs chi-square test and a t-test to analyze the information within those records. s ation in juvenile court records varied considerably. This variability was evident when we compared juvenile court records with and without mention of a mental disorder. Significantly more information about school-related problems, the functioning of the minor, and the occurrence of domestic violence was included in records that mentioned a mental disorder compared with records that did not. sion ntent of the juvenile court records varied, particularly with regard to the mental health status of the minor in question. We suggest guidelines to standardize the information contained in juvenile court records.