Assessment and conceptualization of competency to stand trial

Based on an examination of current methods used to define and assess a defendant's competency to stand trial, the authors propose an assessment and research instrument, referred to as the Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI). The IFI is a structured interview and rating scale designed to take into account both legal and mental health issues, and calls for an interdisciplinary approach to the assessment of competency. The purpose of the present study was to provide preliminary reliability and validity data on the use of the IFI in one jurisdiction. The results are discussed in terms of policy implications and the development of methods for evaluating competency with brief screening interviews in less restrictive settings.Support for this project was provided by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Studies in Crime and Delinquency (Grant No. 1 RO 1 MH 33669-01) to the Social Science Research Institute. The data reported here are taken from a larger research project designed to assess the use of a number of methods for assessing competency. Our principal concern in this article is with preliminary analyses of the Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview, a measure developed expressly for this project. The authors thank William Glackman and George Tien for their assistance in data analysis and Amiram Elwork and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts.