Teens, Crime, and Brain Development

Adolescence is defined in most cases as the transitional period between puberty and adulthood in human development, or the process or state of growing to maturity.  It is also a time when youth encounter and struggle with new and profound situations, including acceptance of responsibility, physical changes, and self discovery. 

In the United States you must be of a legal age to vote, drive, purchase alcohol, purchase tobacco, join the armed forces, and marry, among other things.  These restrictions are put in place because as a society we note the inability of youth to make rational and responsible decisions before a certain age. 

However in a court of law when an adolescent commits a crime we hand down sentences that any adult would receive.  Estimates are that more than 200,000 individuals under the age of 18 are prosecuted in criminal court each year.

In recent years there have been many studies done on the human brain’s development during adolescent years that would further prove society’s belief that youth are incapable of making highly rational decisions before adulthood. 

In a Juvenile Justice Center Report, Brain Development and Legal Culpability, scientist Dr. Elizabeth Sowell, a member of the UCLA brain research team, and colleagues found that

“The frontal lobe undergoes far more change during adolescence than at any other stage of life. It is also the last part of the brain to develop, which means that even as they become fully capable in other areas, adolescents cannot reason as well as adults.”

The frontal lobe has been found to play a part in impulse control, judgment, language, memory, motor function, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity.  Frontal lobes assist in planning, coordinating, controlling, and executing behavior.

Research shows these adolescents are still in stages of development that do not equip them with the same judgment tools that we have as adults.  Still in a report published by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails, it states that “approximately 107,000 youth (younger than 18) are incarcerated on any given day.”

The National Crime Prevention Council’s program, Teens, Crime, and the Community (TCC) was created to reduce alarmingly high rates of teen victimization and to engage young people in their communities.  Research shows that teens involved in TCC are more likely to know more about types of crime victimization and their risk of crime, understand ways to prevent crime against themselves and their families, increase their belief in ethical rules and the need for laws, and reduce their own delinquency and their association with delinquent peers.

For more information on TCC visit our website at ncpc.org.

Comments

[charity]

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[Sean Adamcik]

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