1932

Abstract

Healthy development is a fundamental right of the individual, regardless of race, ethnicity, or social class. Youth require special protections of their rights, in part owing to vulnerabilities related to psychological and brain immaturity. These rights include not only protection against harm but opportunities for building the cognitive, emotional, and social skills necessary for becoming a contributing member of society. They apply to all youth, including those within the adult criminal justice system, which raises the legal question of when adult capacity and responsibility begin and special protections are no longer warranted. This article highlights () empirical findings from developmental science on when psychological and neurobiological development reaches maturity; () the extent to which this scientific knowledge guides current policies and practices in the treatment of youth in the United States; and () emerging policies in the treatment of young people in the justice system based on developmental science.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031101
2020-10-13
2024-10-15
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/lawsocsci/16/1/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031101.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031101&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Am. Bar Assoc 2007. Dialogue on Youth and Justice Washington, DC: Am. Bar Assoc https://perma.cc/Z5E9-7P6H
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Am. Bar Assoc 2017. Resolution to the criminal justice section Rep., House Deleg Washington, DC:
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Am. Bar Assoc 2019. Family Separation and Detention Washington, DC: Am. Bar Assoc https://perma.cc/Q522-WYU2
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Annie E. Casey Found 2011. Youth Incarceration in the United States Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Found https://perma.cc/6FDK-6SFJ
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Barkley-Levenson E, Galván A. 2014. Neural representation of expected value in the adolescent brain. PNAS 111:1646–51
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bonnie RJ, Scott ES. 2013. The teenage brain: adolescent brain research and the law. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 22:158–61
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Breiner K, Li A, Cohen AO, Steinberg L, Bonnie RJ et al. 2018. Combined effects of peer presence, social cues, and rewards on cognitive control in adolescents. Dev. Psychobiol. 60:292–302
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Brown TT, Kuperman JM, Chung Y, Erhart M, McCabe C et al. 2012. Neuroanatomical assessment of biological maturity. Curr. Biol. 22:1693–98
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Buck T. 2014. International Child Law London, UK: Routledge, 3rd ed..
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Burns K, dir 2012. The Central Park Five Arlington, VA: PBS
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Butts JA. 2016. Total youth arrests for violent crime still falling nationwide. DataBits Sept. 27. https://perma.cc/6A67-E8WX
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Casey BJ. 2015. Beyond simple models of self-control to circuit-based accounts of adolescent behavior. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 66:295–319
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Casey BJ. 2019. Healthy development as a human right: lessons from developmental science. Neuron 102:724–27
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Casey BJ, Caudle K. 2013. The teenage brain: self control. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 22:82–87
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Casey BJ, Durston S, Fossella JA 2001. Evidence for a mechanistic model of cognitive control. Clin. Neurosci. Res. 1:267–82
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Casey BJ, Galván A, Somerville LH 2016. Beyond simple models of adolescence to an integrated circuit-based account: a commentary. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 17:128–30
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Casey BJ, Heller A, Gee D, Cohen A 2019. Development of the emotional brain. Neurosci. Lett. 693:29–34
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Casey BJ, Oliveri ME, Insel T 2014. A neurodevelopmental perspective on the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework. Biol. Psychiatry 76:350–53
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Cauffman E, Fine A, Mahler A, Simmons C 2018. How developmental science influences juvenile justice reform. UC Irvine Law Rev 8:101–20
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Cauffman E, Steinberg L. 2000. (Im)maturity of judgment in adolescence: why adolescents may be less culpable than adults. Behav. Sci. Law 18:741–60
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Chein JM, Albert D, O'Brien L, Uckert K, Steinberg L 2011. Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain's reward circuitry. Dev. Sci. 14:F1–F10
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Clark AB. 2017. Juvenile solitary confinement as a form of child abuse. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 45:350–357
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Cohen A, Bonnie RJ, Taylor-Thompson K, Casey BJ 2016a. When does a juvenile become an adult? Implications for law and policy. Temple Law Rev 88:769–88
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Cohen A, Breiner K, Steinberg L, Bonnie RJ, Scott ES et al. 2016b. When is an adolescent an adult? Assessing cognitive control in emotional and nonemotional contexts. Psychol. Sci. 27:549–62
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Cohen MM, Jing D, Yang RR, Tottenham N, Lee FS, Casey BJ 2013. Early-life stress has persistent effects on amygdala function and development in mice and humans. PNAS 110:18274–78
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Crone EA, Konijn EA. 2018. Media use and brain development during adolescence. Nat. Commun. 9:588–98
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Davidow JY, Foerde K, Galván A, Shohamy D 2016. An upside to reward sensitivity: The hippocampus supports enhanced reinforcement learning in adolescence. Neuron 92:93–99
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Dosenbach N, Nardos B, Cohen AL, Fair DA, Power JD et al. 2010. Prediction of individual brain maturity using fMRI. Science 329:1358–61
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Dreyfuss M, Caudle K, Drysdale AT, Johnston NE, Cohen AO et al. 2014. Teens impulsively react rather than retreat from threat. Dev. Neurosci. 36:220–27
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Duell N, Steinberg L, Icenogle G, Chein J, Chaudhary N et al. 2018. Age patterns in risk taking across the world. J. Youth Adolesc. 47:1052–72
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Durston S, Thomas KM, Yang Y, Ulug AM, Zimmerman RD, Casey BJ 2002. A neural basis for the development of inhibitory control. Dev. Sci. 5:F9–F16
    [Google Scholar]
  32. DuVernay A, dir 2019. When They See Us Los Gatos, CA: Netflix
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Fagan J. 1996. The comparative advantage of juvenile versus criminal court sanctions on recidivism among adolescent felony offenders. Law Policy 18:77–114
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Gainsborough J, Young MC. 2000. Prosecuting juveniles in adult court: an assessment of trends and consequences Rep., Sentencing Proj. Washington, DC: https://perma.cc/EET5-K48K
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Galvan A, Hare TA, Parra CE, Penn J, Voss H et al. 2006. Earlier development of the accumbens relative to orbitofrontal cortex might underlie risk-taking behavior in adolescents. J. Neurosci. 26:6885–92
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Gee DG, Gabard-Durnam LJ, Flannery J, Goff B, Humphreys KL et al. 2013a. Early developmental emergence of human amygdala-prefrontal connectivity after maternal deprivation. PNAS 110:15638–43
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Gee DG, Humphreys KL, Flannery J, Goff B, Telzer EH et al. 2013b. A developmental shift from positive to negative connectivity in human amygdala-prefrontal circuitry. J. Neurosci. 33:4584–93
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Geier CF, Terwilliger R, Teslovich T, Velanova K, Luna B 2010. Immaturities in reward processing and its influence on inhibitory control in adolescence. Cereb. Cortex 20:1613–29
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Goff PA, Jackson MC, Di Leone BAL, Culotta CM, DiTomasso NA 2014. The essence of innocence: consequences of dehumanizing black children. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 106:526–45
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Gonnerman J. 2015. Kalief Browder and a change at Rikers. New Yorker April 14. https://perma.cc/2EFD-7QPU
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Graham v. Florida 560 U.S. 48, 08–7412 2010.
  42. Griffin P, Addie S, Adams B, Firestine K 2011. Trying juveniles as adults: an analysis of state transfer laws and reporting. Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System Washington, DC: Off. Juv. Justice Delinq. Prev.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Hahn R, McGowan A, Liberman A, Crosby A, Fullilove M et al. 2007. Effects on violence of laws and policies facilitating the transfer of youth from the juvenile to the adult justice system. MMWR 56:1–11
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Hare TA, Tottenham N, Galván A, Voss HU, Glover GH, Casey BJ 2008. Biological substrates of emotional reactivity and regulation in adolescence during an emotional go-nogo task. Biol. Psychiatry 63:927–34
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Heller AS, Cohen AO, Dreyfuss MFW, Casey BJ 2016. Changes in cortico-subcortical and subcortico-subcortical connectivity impact cognitive control to emotional cues across development. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 11:1910–18
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Henning K. 2013. Criminalizing normal adolescent behavior in communities of color: the role of prosecutors in juvenile justice reform. Cornell Law Rev 98:383–462
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Hodgson v. Minnesota 497 U.S. 417 1990.
  48. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D 2015. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 10:227–37
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Human Rights Watch 2010. The price of freedom: bail and pretrial detention of low income nonfelony defendants in New York City. Human Rights Watch Dec. 2. https://perma.cc/Y4WC-UKJT
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Icenogle G, Steinberg L, Duell N, Chein J, Chang L et al. 2019. Adolescents’ cognitive capacity reaches adult levels prior to their psychosocial maturity: evidence for a “maturity gap” in a multinational, cross-sectional sample. Law Hum. Behav. 43:69–85
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Jackson v. Hobbs 567 U.S. 460, 10–9647 2012.
  52. Kaba F, Lewis A, Glowa-Kollisch S, Hadler J, Lee D et al. 2014. Solitary confinement and risk of self-harm among jail inmates. Am. J. Public Health 104:442–47
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Kaufmann T, Alnæs D, Doan NT, Brandt CL, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT 2017. Delayed stabilization and individualization in connectome development are related to psychiatric disorders. Nat. Neurosci. 20:513–15
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Mack JW. 1909. The juvenile court. Harvard Law Rev 23:104–22
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Mears DP, Travis J. 2004. Youth development and reentry. Youth Violence Juv. Justice 2:3–20
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Miller v. Alabama 567 U.S. 460, 10–9646 2012.
  57. Monk CS, McClure EB, Nelson EE, Zarahn E, Bilder RM et al. 2003. Adolescent immaturity in attention-related brain engagement to emotional facial expressions. Neuroimage 20:420–28
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Montgomery v. Louisiana 577 U.S.__ 14–280 2016.
  59. Moore KE, Stuewig JB, Tangney JP 2016. The effect of stigma on criminal offenders’ functioning: a longitudinal mediational model. Deviant Behav 37:196–218
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Moore NM. 2015. The Political Roots of Racial Tracking in American Criminal Justice New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Mulley C. 2010. The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb: Founder of Save the Children Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publ.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Myers DL. 2003. Adult crime, adult time: punishing violent youth in the adult criminal justice system. Youth Violence Juv. Justice 1:173–97
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Natl. Acad. Sci. Eng. Med 2001. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice Washington, DC: Natl. Acad. Press https://perma.cc/W9NA-NXDA
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Natl. Acad. Sci. Eng. Med 2019. The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth Washington, DC: Natl. Acad. Press https://perma.cc/4Z8L-ZAUF
    [Google Scholar]
  65. N.Y. State Arch 1989. The greatest reform school in the world: a guide to the records of the New York House of Refuge Publ. No. FA10, N.Y. State Arch Albany, NY:
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Poe-Yamagata E, Jones MA. 2000. And Justice for Some: Differential Treatment of Youth of Color in the Justice System Oakland, CA: Natl. Counc. Crime Delinq https://perma.cc/77TU-WNRT
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Regnery A. 1985. Getting away with murder: why the juvenile justice system needs an overhaul. Policy Rev 34:65–68
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Ridderinkhof KR, Van Der Molen MW, Band GPH, Bashore TR 1997. Sources of interference from irrelevant information: a developmental study. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 65:315–41
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Roper v. Simmons 543 U.S. 55103–633 2005.
  70. Rudolph MD, Miranda-Domínguez O, Cohen AO, Breiner K, Steinberg L et al. 2017. At risk of being risky: the relationship between “brain age” under emotional states and risk preference. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 24:93–106
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Sawyer W. 2018. Youth confinement: the whole pie Press Rel., Prison Policy Initiat Northampton, MA: https://perma.cc/TZY3-BMBQ
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Sharkey P. 2009. Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap Philadelphia: Pew Charit. Trust https://perma.cc/N9V3-Q6VY
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Sickmund M, Sladky T, Kang W, Puzzanchera C 2017. Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement Washington, DC: Off. Juv. Justice Delinq. Prev https://perma.cc/5C9V-UDFN
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Silvers JA, Insel C, Powers A, Franz P, Helion C et al. 2017. The transition from childhood to adolescence is marked by a general decrease in amygdala reactivity and an affect-specific ventral-to-dorsal shift in medial prefrontal recruitment. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 25:128–37
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Somerville LH. 2016. Searching for signatures of brain maturity: What are we searching for. Neuron 92:1164–67
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Somerville LH, Casey BJ. 2010. Developmental neurobiology of cognitive control and motivational systems. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 20:236–41
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Somerville LH, Hare TA, Casey BJ 2011. Frontostriatal maturation predicts cognitive control failure to appetitive cues in adolescents. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 23:2123–34
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Steinberg L. 2015. Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Steinberg L, Cauffman E, Woolard J, Graham S, Banich M 2009a. Are adolescents less mature than adults? Minors’ access to abortion, the juvenile death penalty, and the alleged APA “flip-flop.. Am. Psychol. 64:739–50
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Steinberg L, Graham S, O'Brien L, Woolard J, Cauffman E, Banich M 2009b. Age differences in future orientation and delay discounting. Child Dev 80:28–44
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Steinberg L, Monahan KC. 2007. Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Dev. Psychol. 43:1531–43
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Taylor-Thompson K. 2003. States of mind/states of development. Stanford Law Policy Rev 14:143–73
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Taylor-Thompson K. 2014. Minority rule: redefining the age of criminality. N.Y. Univ. Rev. Law Soc. Change 38:143–200
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Teslovich T, Mulder M, Franklin NT, Ruberry EJ, Millner A et al. 2014. Adolescents let sufficient evidence accumulate before making a decision when large incentives are at stake. Dev. Sci. 17:59–70
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Thelen E. 2005. Dynamic systems theory and the complexity of change. Psychoanal. Dialogues 15:255–80
    [Google Scholar]
  86. Thornberry TP. 1973. Race, socioeconomic status and sentencing in the juvenile justice system. J. Crim. Law Criminol. 64:90–98
    [Google Scholar]
  87. Tottenham N, Hare TA, Millner A, Gilhooly T, Zevin JD, Casey BJ 2011. Elevated amygdala response to faces following early deprivation. Dev. Sci. 14:190–204
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Tottenham N, Hare TA, Quinn BT, McCarry TW, Nurse M et al. 2010. Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation. Dev. Sci. 13:46–61
    [Google Scholar]
  89. Tymula A, Rosenberg Belmaker LA, Roy AK, Ruderman L, Manson K et al. 2012. Adolescents’ risk-taking behavior is driven by tolerance to ambiguity. PNAS 109:17135–40
    [Google Scholar]
  90. US Census Bur 2016. Historical Marital Status Tables Washington, DC: US Census Bur https://perma.cc/Y3AS-ASHR
    [Google Scholar]
  91. UN Comm. Hum. Rights 1959. Declaration of the Rights of the Child New York: UN Gen. Assem https://perma.cc/F49W-K56Q
    [Google Scholar]
  92. US Dep. Justice, Off. Justice Programs, Off. Juvenile Justice Delinq. Prev 2013. Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-Univ. Consort. Political Soc. Res https://perma.cc/6BQS-4BEM
    [Google Scholar]
  93. Van Leijenhorst L, Zanolie K, Van Meel CS, Westenberg PM, Rombouts S, Crone EA 2010. What motivates the adolescent? Brain regions mediating reward sensitivity across adolescence. Cereb. Cortex 20:61–69
    [Google Scholar]
  94. Vasiliades E. 2005. Solitary confinement and international human rights: why the U.S. prison system fails global standards. Am. Univ. Int. Law Rev. 21:71–99
    [Google Scholar]
  95. Visher CA, Travis J. 2003. Transitions from prison to community: understanding individual pathways. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 29:89–113
    [Google Scholar]
  96. Young MC, Gainsborough J. 2000. Prosecuting Juveniles in Adult Court: An Assessment of Trends and Consequences Washington, DC: Sentencing Proj https://perma.cc/T9CZ-HCKQ
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031101
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031101
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error