Court referrals

Court referrals are those defendents and criminals referred by the criminal justice system for assessment or treatment.

Issues of motivation
Because of the route of referral the motivation of the subjects to cooperate cannot be assumed.

Court ordered assessment
The court may order assessment for a number of reasons:

For mentally ill offenders they may request a forensic evaluation to fitness to stand trial and to evaluate an insanity defense.

Court ordered treatment
The courts refer people for treatment, sometimes through formal commitment procedings in which case treatment is involuntary.

Sometimes the court requests involvement on the grounds of establishing mediation between parties.

Reports can also be requested for establishing the appropriateness of probation for an offender]