[Validation of tools for assessing the intelligence and the functional impairment of Papiamento speaking suspects]

Although Antillean suspects in the Netherlands are often diagnosed as being intellectually impaired, there are no validated tests available Papiamento (the native language) for assessing intelligence or functional impairment.

To validate the use of the GIT 2 (Groninger Intelligentie Test 2) and the Barkley Functioning Impairment Scale (BFIS) for Antillean defendants detained by the Judicial Service of the Caribbean Netherlands in Bonaire.

With the approval of the publishers, the GIT 2 and the BFIS were translated in Papiamento by two independent experts. The two translations were then re-translated into Dutch by two other independent experts. Defendants with both parents born in Bonaire who had been detained for at least 18 days by the Judicial Detention Centre of the Caribbean Netherlands (JICN) in Bonaire during the period 1 January 2013 until 1 July 2014 were examined with both tests.

The Papiamento GIT 2 and BFIS tests were taken by 23 Bonairian defendants who had been detained in the JICN in Bonaire. The internal consistency and inter-item correlation of the tests were found to be satisfactory. The IQ of 95% of the participants was reproduced as a score between 79.2 and 96.8 points. In the BFIS the question about self-care was a particularly sensitive item. The use of drugs was associated with increased functional impairment.

This study seems to be a promising first step towards the validation of the GIT 2 and the BFIS. Apparently, it has now become acceptable to use written Papiamento in assessment tools.