Juvenile Justice Reforms Should Incorporate Science of Adolescent Development, Report Finds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113134622.htm

ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2012) — Legal responses to juvenile offending should be grounded in scientific knowledge about adolescent development and tailored to an individual offender's needs and social environment, says a new report from the National Research Council. Accountability practices should not be carried over from criminal courts to
juvenile courts; in particular, confinement should be used only in rare circumstances such as when a youth poses a high risk of harming others.

The specific aims of the juvenile justice system are to hold youths accountable for wrongdoing, prevent further offending, and treat offenders fairly. "Many jurisdictions are still operating under harsh laws passed in the 1990s that rejected the relevance of the developmental differences between adolescents and adults to justice policy," said committee chair Robert Johnson, dean of the New Jersey Medical School in Newark. "But adolescents' brains, behavior, and needs are different from those of adults, and states should align their laws and policies with that evidence."

Research shows that an imbalance in developing brain systems is linked to adolescents' lack of mature capability for self-regulation, heightened sensitivity to external influences, and poorer ability to make decisions that require consideration of the future. Individual development and likelihood of offending are also strongly affected by youths' interactions with their environment, which includes parents, peers, schools, and communities, the report says. Much adolescent involvement in illegal activity is an extension of the kind of risk-taking that is part of the developmental process, and most adolescents mature out of these activities.

Three conditions that are critically important to adolescent development are active involvement by a parent figure, peer groups that value positive socialization and academic success, and activities that contribute to decision-making and critical-thinking abilities, says the report. Juvenile justice system practices that rely on containment, confinement, and control can deprive youth of these resources.

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