A Place for Baksbat (Broken Courage) in Forensic Psychiatry at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Abstract

There are growing debates on the importance of culture in forensic psychiatry. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has often been used as forensic evidence of trauma for survivors, regardless of their cultural background. This study justifies and advocates the use baksbat (broken courage), a culture-based syndrome, as forensic evidence among Khmer Rouge (KR) genocide survivors. Seventy-seven participants were interviewed; statistical tests were performed to study the correlation between KR trauma, post-KR trauma, baksbat and PTSD. The results show that KR trauma predicts baksbat (β = .34, p < .01), while post-KR trauma predicts PTSD (β = .25, p = .04). The zero-order correlation shows that controlling for PTSD has little influence on the relationship between KR trauma and baksbat. This indicates that baksbat can capture more trauma symptoms among KR survivors and consideration of culture in identifying trauma symptoms can provide unique information beyond that described by PTSD. The author recommends adding baksbat as additional evidence for KR survivors who testify in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.