Determining the Goals Toward Which Forensic Mental Health Practice Should Aspire

Forensic mental health professionals (FMHPs) play a crucial role in shaping legal outcomes, necessitating a clear understanding of excellence in the field. Establishing criteria for excellence depends upon first addressing key controversies, including those related to the role for advocacy inside the legal process, the extent to which FHMPs should strive for social justice outside the courtroom, and the allocation of scarce forensics resources. Resolution of these debates will, in turn, determine whether excellence stems primarily from selection or treatment. Only once a clear consensus regarding the meaning of excellence develops can aspirational goals for the professional be established.