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PSYCHIATRY IN THE CRIMINAL COURTS OF COOK COUNTY®*
BY
Harry R. Horrman, M. D.
Director, Behavior Clinic of the Criminal Court of Cook Cownty
Report for the Fiscal Year, 1933

Organization—The Behavior Clinic of the Criminal Court of Cook
County, which came into existence April 1, 1931, is essentially a diagnostic
clinic, giving advisory psychiatric service to the Judges of the Criminal
Court. The Clinic is disinterested in the legal aspect of the cases referred
for examination. Its aim is the intensive study of the individual offender—
his mental, physical and emotional make-up—his environment, and the in-
teraction of that individual and that environment. It is hoped that such a
scientific study will make for a better understanding of criminals and the
forces motivating anti-social behavior and thus help to combat the menace
of crime to society.

Scope and Method.—A psychiatric examination may be availed for any
offender whom the presiding judge sees fit to have examined. Requests for
examinations are made for numerous reasons, the most frequent of which
are: 1) to determine the sanity of the individual; 2) to determine his in-
tellectual capacity; 3) to determine his suitability for probation.

Every patient referred to the Behavior Clinic is given several types of
examination: 1) a psychological examination by the psychologist to ascer-
tain his mental ability and to determine what can be expected of him in
terms of social and industrial adjustment; 2) a comprehensive social his-
tory of the patient from relatives, friends, other agencies and individuals
who have had contact with him, to learn all the pertinent facts concerning
his family background, early life history, later experiences, and a detailed
study of his environment in an effort to arrive at a more thorough under-
standing of the patient in view of his background; 3) a physical examina-
tion with special attention to constitutional and neurological defects when
such an examination appears necessary; 4) a psychiatric examination by the
psychiatrist: (a) to evaluate the personality manifestations of the person;
(b) to coordinate all findings and from them make a report to the judge for
use in determining the disposition of the case.

Before the hearing copies of the psychiatric examination and conclu-
sions are sent simultaneously to the presiding judge, State’s Attorney, and
attorney for the defense. After legal disposition of the case copies of the
psychiatric, psychological and social service reports are sent to the institu-
tion to which the patient is committed or sentenced, or to the Adult Pro-
bation Department should he be granted probation.

Referrals.—Since the Clinic’s inception 790 cases have been referred for
examination, of which 316 were referred during the fiscal year of 1933, an in-
crease of 3 per cent over the number of referrals in 1932. Of these, 302
cases received the routine psychiatric and psychological examinations and

* Presented before the Twenty-sixth Annual Meeting of the Illinois State
Academy of Science, East St. Louis, Illinois, May 5, 1933. 3