Il perito e lo straniero = The expert and the foreigners

The contribution is intended to analyze problems and practices of imputability assessment of foreigners. Not only the “tools” that uses the verification within the forensic-psychopathological domain (interview and test) depend on language and culture, but the concept of capacity of discernment itself is largely cultural connoted, as it is even psycho- pathology, to the point that the DSM 5 reserves a specific part to cultural diagnosis. Within a sample of 51 surveys, carried out on foreigners between 1975 and 2015, the authors assess whether and to what extent professionals have been concerned to take account of the cultural factor in the evaluations, including on the use of psycho-diagnostic techniques. From the analysis carried out, emerge some difficulties and a substantial lack of attention to defendant’s culture, only rarely assessed and weighed, comes out.