Proponents of the “get tough” approach on juveniles argue that juveniles are able to commit adult types of crime therefore they should do adult time. “[I]t’s absolutely necessary for society to protect itself against people who kill, rape, or do other serious crimes, even if those people are 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 years of age”, Paul Pfingst, the district attorney for San Diego County (PBS online news hour).
However many new studies are confirming what seems to be common sense- that the adolescent mind is different that the developed adult mind. Kids will make mistakes in judgment because their mind is still developing. This can mean that many kids who commit crime can develop into productive members of society once they are fully developed.
According to a report by a National Research Council panel titled Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice, children and adolescents think, feel and judge differently than adults-many times they overestimate their grasp of a situation and
underestimate the negative consequences of their action (McCormick).
According to studies conducted at Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital, for example reckless behaviors characteristic of teens may be caused, in part, by age-related physiological changes in brain development (Hansen).
Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, director of neuropsychology and cognitive neuroimaging at McLean Hospital and other scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare emotional processing by healthy youths, age 10 to 18, and normal adults. The researchers focused on levels of brain activity in the amygdala, the region of the brain that guides “gut” reactions, and the frontal lobe, the seat of rationalization, impulse control and reasoning. The images showed that young adolescents are more prone to react with “gut instinct” when they process emotion, because their brains have not fully developed (Hansen).
What started of as political rhetoric and perhaps some genuine concern over the growing problem of youth violence has now spiraled into a vicious cycle of murder, assault, rape, and solitary confinement for children. The current system at its best keeps murderous kids off the streets with no hope for
rehabilitation, and at its worse, the current system subjects non-violent juvenile offenders to a plethora of tortures like the ones mentioned before, and then releases them to society with no transitional plans or programs. What happens to a child who spent an amount of time, say two years, in solitary confinement and was sexually abused or assaulted? Is society better of when he or she returns? Will he or she find the hope needed to overcome his/her incarceration and be a productive member of society? At one time in the United States it was common to try 7 year-olds as adults. They were sent to adult prisons and some were even executed (Hansen). Is this were we want our justice system to go? The reality is that we are already headed in that direction. Fifteen states currently explicitly permit children as young as 13, 12 or 10 to be tried as adults (McCormick). If the so called “child super predators” did not exist before 1996 then perhaps sending younger and younger children to adult prisons will create them.
Department of Justice. “Juvenile Violent Crime index 1999.” Online.www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul2000_12_3/page6.html
Dilulio, John J Jr. “The coming of the super-predators.” The Weekly Standard. Washington: Nov 27, 1995. Vol. 1, Issue. 11; pg.23
Hansen, Brian. “Kids in Prison” The CQ Researcher Online. Online. 27 April. 2001. Volume 11. number 16. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher.
Kaminer, Wendy. “Juveniles Should Not Be Tried as Adults.” Juvenile Crime. Auriana Ojeda, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002.
McCormick, Patrick T. “Fit to be Tried? Legislators have been making it easier to punish juvenile as adults.” America. 11 Feb. 2002.v 186 i4. pg.15
Olsen, Matt. “Kids in the hole.” The Progressive. August. 2003. v67. i8. pg.26
PBS Online NewsHour. “Juvenile Justice.” Online.26 July. 2001. www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec01/juvenile_7-26.html
Reynolds, Morgan. “Imprisonment Reduce Crime.” America’s Prisons. Roman Espejo, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002.
Travis, Jeremy and Jeffrey Butts. “Juvenile arrests declined 13% between 1994 and 2000, with larger decreases in violent offenses.” The Rise and Fall of American Youth Violence 1980-2000. Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center. Washington. DC. March. 2002.