According to Corine de Riuter, professor of forensic psychology in Maastricht, Islam is possibly one of the causes of delinquent behavior of Moroccan youth. De Riuter, together with others, has mapped out ways to deal with Moroccan youth and presented their findings to the justice ministry. According to De Riuter, Moroccan and Turkish youth are “backwards” in their moral development. This backwardness is one of the factors that can cause criminal behavior, and cause these youth to have decreased moral functions. “In Islam the emphasis is on obedience and respect for the parents. Individualism and independence are less important – and these are exactly the qualities which can bring moral development to a higher level,”according to the co-authors of the knowledge base for dealing with criminal Moroccan youth. They contrasted this to how children grow up in Dutch families, who have a “democratic negotiation style.”
