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Brain development and adolescents essay
Brain development and adolescents essay
Challenges of the juvenile justice system
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Juvenile Justice If you had a child under the age of 18 who committed murder, would you want their whole life to be spent in prison? This controversial topic about juvenile murderers has got people asking “What do we do with these kids?” Well, in my opinion, I strongly disagree that a person underage should be sentenced to life in prison. It is easy to prove that the brain of an adolescent is not fully developed yet. This means that any action they commit may very well be regretted later on in their life. Thompson supports this idea in “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” when he points out that “brain cells and connections are only being lost in the areas controlling impulses, risk-taking, and self-control” (Thompson 89). I’m sure we can …show more content…
What if it’s in the way the child is raised? In Garinger’s article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, she states that “They are less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape from dangerous environments and their characters are still forming. And because they remain unformed, it is impossible to assume that they will always present an unacceptable risk to public safety” (Garinger 93). Whether it was abuse or bad role models, this idea may prove that children don’t know what they’re doing up until someone steps in to teach them what’s right and wrong. The National Institute of Justice goes further into detail stating “Prominents studies of child abuse and maltreatment point to several unfortunate outcomes for victims as they grow up.” And in Mary Beckman’s Crime Culpability, and the Adolescent Brain, she says that “Christopher Simmons persuaded a younger friend to help him rob a woman, tie her up with electrical cable and duct tape, and throw her over a bridge. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by a Missouri court in 1994. I think that if the child was sent to a Juvenile facility instead, they could have gotten rid of the problem in his head a long time ago. But perhaps it’s the fault of the parent/guardians that may lead to the children’s inevitable
Paul Thompson in the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” claims that a teenager is not an adult and should not be treated as one. Thompson supports his claim by first explaining about the research his group has done. He then describes the results of the research by stating, “But what really caught our eye was a massive loss of brain tissue that occurs in the teenage years… are only being lost in the areas controlling impulses, risk-taking and self-control”(Paragraph 7). This means that during the teenage years, those part of the brain are vastly immature. Lastly, the author explains that during this reshaping of the brain, it does not remove their accountability. He also states, “While research on brain-tissue loss can help understand
In the article On Punishment and Teen Killers by Jenkins, sadly brings to our attention that kids are sometimes responsible for unimaginable crimes, in 1990 in a suburban Chicago neighborhood a teenager murdered a women, her husband, and her unborn child, as she begged for the life of her unborn child he shot her and later reported to a close friend that it was a “thrill kill”, that he just simply wanted to see what it felt like to shoot someone. A major recent issue being debated is whether or not we have the right to sentence Juveniles who commit heinous crimes to life in adult penitentiaries without parole. I strongly believe and agree with the law that states adolescents who commit these heinous crimes should be tried as adults and sentenced as adults, however I don’t believe they should be sentenced to life without parole. I chose this position because I believe that these young adults in no way should be excused for their actions and need to face the severe consequences of their actions. Although on the other hand I believe change is possible and that prison could be rehabilitating and that parole should be offered.
If a family member was murdered, a family member was murdered, age should not dictate if the punishment for homicide will be more lenient or not. If anyone not just juveniles has the capabilities to take someone's life and does so knowing the repercussions, they should be convicted as an adult. In the case of Jennifer Bishop Jenkins who lost her sister, the husband and their unborn child, is a strong advocate of juveniles being sentenced to life without parole. In her article “Jennifer Bishop Jenkins On Punishment and Teen Killers” she shows the world the other side of the spectrum, how it is to be the victim of a juvenile in a changing society where people are fighting against life sentences for juveniles. As she states in the article “There are no words adequate to describe what this kind of traumatic loss does to a victims family. So few who work on the juvenile offender side can truly understand what the victims of their crimes sometimes go through. Some never
Throughout and for many years there has been a lot of controversy on how to trial someone who has committed a crime under the age of 18. A lie will be a lie even if it 's serious or innocent and that 's why just like a crime will always be a crime, no matter what the situation is. The age of a person who has committed murder shouldn 't be an issue or a complication. Many advocate that the juvenile is just a child, but despised that I believe that is no justification or defense for anyone who does a crime. America and the nation need to apprehend that juveniles that are being conducted to life in prison is not just for one small incident or crime, but for several severe crimes according to Jennifer Jenkins, Juvenile Justice Information
Unfortunately, these two cases are not uncommon in the justice world. As a matter of fact, “by 2010, Florida had sentenced more than a hundred children to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses,” (Stevenson 153). One of the primary reasons for this originated in the idea that harsher punishments will act as a deterrent for kids who want to break the law. However, recent studies have suggested that because the prefrontal lobe of the brain is still in development until the age of twenty, children don’t have the mental capacity to make the best decisions, especially under stress. Additionally, children normally wouldn’t have access to weapons or drugs, which allows the argument that adults should be held responsible for making such objects available to them in the first place (Reaves).
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
One in three teen delinquents are sexually assaulted by staff members during their time in juvie. Even in the place that is supposed to oppose crime takes part in it. Juvenile Detention Centers are supposed to help minors get on the right track for the rest of their life ahead of them. In 2003 The Prison Rape Elimination Act [PREA] was passed to help prevent and protect against prison rape. Though that was passed it still goes on and the superiors of the inmates are still getting away with it.
For example Paul Thompson an assistant professor of neurology who wrote “Startling finds on teenage brains” says that most teens are experiencing a wildfire of tissue loss in their brains, although it cannot be used to excuse their violent or homicidal behavior it can be used as evidence that teenagers are not yet adults so the legal system shouldn’t treat them as such”. Other people also believe it is wrong to convict a juvenile as an adult just because he/she made one “stupid mistake” for example in startling finds in the teenage brain, Brazill 14 years at the time took a gun to school and shot up the middle school teacher but they say Brazill made one “stupid mistake” and that him and many other teens are far from adulthood and that their minds set are not the same as an
Is it fair to give juveniles life sentences? On June 25 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, stated that “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features- among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate the risks and consequences. It prevents taking into account the family and home environment that surrounds him and from which he cannot usually extricate himself no matter how brutal or dysfunctional.” Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison or adult jail until legal age. Due to the facts that many are still young and aren’t over eighteen.
Age is a factor in why Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison. As Paul Thompson states in his article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains from the Sacramento Bee, published on May 25, 2001 “ ...These frontal lobes,which inhibit our violent passions, rash action and regulate our emotions are vastly immature throughout the teenage years.” he also says that “The loss[of brain tissue] was like a wildfire, and you see it in every teenager.”. This loss of brain tissue plays a role in the erratic behavior of teens, they cannot properly assess their emotions and thoughts. During this period of brain tissue loss teens are unpredictable, adults do not know what their teen’s next move will be, teens themselves do not even know what their next move will be. As we grow our brains develop, therefore teen brains are not fully developed, so they cannot be held to the same standards as adults.
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." -- David Grusin and Morgan Ames Much controversy exists on the question of whether a juvenile criminal should be punished to the same extent as an adult. Those who commit capital crimes, including adolescents, should be penalized according to the law. Age should not be a factor in the case of serious crimes.
once the minor has committed a violent crime, they are no longer a kid. The minor had the ability to know right from wrong, but he still chose to commit the heinous crime anyway. Choosing to commit this violent crime means that the minor chose to act as an adult and must be held accountable. Once the minor has made the decision to act as an adult, they must be treated as an adult. If we do not teach minors that what they did has consequences they will never learn. Arguments can be made that minors should not be treated as adults and while these arguments do have merit, they are not my beliefs. In my opinion, minors who commit violent crimes need to be tried as adults. Justice does not discriminate when it comes to age. Right is right, and wrong is wrong and the wrong should be punished equally.
Juveniles are not mature enough or developed psychologically, and, therefore, do not consider the consequences of their actions. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Thompson,
The reason why I think that juvenile justice are beneficial for trouble is because people learn there mistakes that they did from the past and now and sometimes when people are in there the people who are not in there are probably at work or they are out partying and having fun and like they say its easy to get in and hard to get out so ill advise people to do the right thing that are right for they kids and don't be a fool in get in trouble then there kids probably wont look up to them they will just wanna listen to other people then they parents and some people don't get to have a dad some of there dad probably ran far away from them or went to jail probably died and I would not wanna be like them I wanna be better then
Should juveniles be sentenced to prison for life? Should juveniles be trialed as adults after committing a heinous crime and sentenced to life? As a teenager, this question is far too complicated to answer because I am a teenager yet in my opinion, I believe that the juvenile should not be sentenced to life. I believe that there is another way to punish them for their crimes. The last execution was in 2006 in California.