Alternatives and Closing Remarks

The concluding chapter, Chapter 12, notes alternatives—such as diversion and mental health courts—to the commonly employed criminal justice proceedings that are being explored in the hope that they may be better suited for processing defendants with a mental disorder and thereby help to resolve some of the thorniest issues faced by the criminal justice system and society. It closes by reiterating the challenging nature of this field and stresses the important role that forensic mental health evaluators and their evaluations can play.