1932

Abstract

The decision of whether to hold someone legally responsible raises both philosophical and psychological questions. Philosophically, legal responsibility derives from either what someone did or who someone is—deed or role responsibility. For both the young and the very old, responsibility for bad actions is intertwined with psychological definitions of competency and capacity. For the young, the law assumes incompetence until a certain chronological age or court determination. For the old, no automatic chronological age is determinative; rather, the law assumes competence until a court determines otherwise. These automatic or court determinations impact legal responsibility in both the civil and criminal law contexts for both the young and the old. Additionally, special circumstances create responsibilities for others in relation to the young and old.

Keyword(s): blameelderjuvenileresponsibility
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-021721-091626
2021-10-13
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/lawsocsci/17/1/annurev-lawsocsci-021721-091626.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-021721-091626&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Acklin MW. 2012. The forensic clinician's toolbox I: a review of competency to stand trial (CST) instruments. J. Personal. Assess. 9:220–22
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Albert SM, Moss M, Lawton MP. 1996. The significance of the self-perceived start of caregiving. J. Clin. Geropsychology 2:3161–74
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Alicke MD. 2000. Culpable control and the psychology of blame. Psychol. Bull. 126:4556–74
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Allen v. Ornoski No. 06-99001 (9th Cir 2006.
  5. Am. Bar Assoc. Comm. Aging, Am. Psychol. Assoc. 2005. Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacity: A Handbook for Lawyers Chicago: Am. Bar Assoc.
  6. Anderson NH 1991. Psychodynamics of everyday life: blaming and avoiding blame. Contributions to Information Integration Theory 2 ed. NH Anderson 243–75 Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Atkins v. Virginia 536 U.S. 304 2002.
  8. Banks v. Goodfellow 39LJQB237 1870.)
  9. Bellotti v. Baird 443 U.S. 622 1979.
  10. Berg JW, Appelbaum PS, Lidz CW, Parker LS. 2001. Informed Consent: Legal Theory and Clinical Practice Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  11. Bonnie RJ. 1992. The competence of criminal defendants: a theoretical reformulation. Behav. Sci. Law 10:291–316
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Brank EM. 2019. The Psychology of Family Law New York: NYU Press
  13. Brank EM, Hays SA, Weisz V. 2006. All parents are to blame (except this one): global and specific attitudes toward parental responsibility. . J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 36:2670–84
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Brank EM, Kucera SC, Hays SA. 2005. Parental responsibility statutes: an organization and policy implications. J. Law Fam. Stud. 7:1–55
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Brank EM, Weisz V. 2004. Paying for the crimes of their youth: public support of parental responsibility laws. J. Crim. Justice 32:465–75
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Cahn NR. 1996. Juvenile justice reform: pragmatic questions about parental liability statutes. Wis. Law Rev. 1996.399–445
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Carlson B. 2019. When adult children can be required to pay for their parents’ long-term care. Forbes Nov. 22. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcarlson/2019/11/22/when-adult-children-can-be-required-to-pay-for-their-parents-long-term-care/?sh=5985a7cc7a44
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Chiu T. 2010. It's about time: aging prisoners, increasing costs, and geriatric release. Publ., Cent. Sentencing Correct. Vera Inst. Justice Brooklyn, NY:
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Davidson H. 1996. No consequences—re-examining parental responsibility laws. Stanford Law Policy Rev. 7:23–30
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Demakis GJ 2018. Assessment and restoration of competency to stand trial with older adults. Forensic Geropsychology: Practice Essentials SS Bush, AL Heck 117–33 Washington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Drizin SA, Leo RA. 2004. The problem of false confessions in the post-DNA world. N. C. Law Rev. 82:891–1007
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Dusky v. United States 362 U.S. 402 1960.)
  23. Edelstone SF. 2002. Filial responsibility: Can the legal duty to support our parents be effectively enforced?. Fam. Law Q. 36:3501–14
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Ford v. Wainwright 477 U.S. 399 1986.
  25. Fortunati F, Morgan CA, Temporini H, Southwick S, Coric V, Feuerstein S. 2006. Overview of child and adolescent forensic evaluations. Psychiatry 3:462–66
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Frierson RL, Shea SJ, Shea MEC. 2002. Competence-to-stand-trial evaluations of geriatric defendants. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 30:252–56
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Frolik LA, Kaplan RL. 2010. Elder Law: In a Nutshell Saint Paul, MN: West Acad. Publ, 5th ed..
  28. Gardner MR. 2009. Understanding Juvenile Law Newark, NJ: LexisNexis, 3rd ed..
  29. Gardner MR. 2013. The categorical distinction between adolescents and adults: the Supreme Court's juvenile punishment cases—constitutional implications for regulating teenage sexual activity. Bringham Young Univ. J. Public Law 28:1–70
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Gladstone IA. 1954–1955. The legal responsibility of parents for juvenile delinquency in New York State: a developmental history. Brooklyn Law Rev. 21:172–88
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Greene E, Heilbrun K. 2013. Wrightsman's Psychology and the Legal System Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
  32. Grisso T. 2003. Evaluating Competencies: Forensic Assessments and Instruments New York: Kluwer/Plenum, 2nd ed..
  33. Grisso T, Appelbaum PS, Mulvey EP, Fletcher K. 1995. The MacArthur treatment competence study. II. Measures of abilities related to competence to consent to treatment. Law Hum. Behav. 19:2127–48
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Gudjonsson GH, Sigurdsson JF, Sigfusdottir ID, Asgeirsdottir BB, González RA, Young S 2016. A national epidemiological study investigating risk factors for police interrogation and false confession among juveniles and young persons. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 51:359–67
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Healthcare and Retirement Association v. Pittas 46 A.3d 719 (Pa. Super. 2012.
  36. Hegland KF, Fleming RB. 2010. New Times, New Challenges: Law and Advice for Savvy Seniors and Their Families Durham, NC: Carolina Acad.
  37. Heider F. 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons
  38. Hodgson v. Minnesota 497 U.S. 417 1990.
  39. Ihrie AD. 1996. Parental delinquency: Should parents be criminally liable for failing to supervise their children?. Univ. Detroit Mercy Law Rev. 74:93–112
    [Google Scholar]
  40. In re Gault 387 U.S. 1 1967.)
  41. Kelley HH 1967. Attribution theory in social psychology. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 15 ed. D Levine 192–238 Lincoln: Univ. Neb. Press
  42. Lagnado DA, Channon S. 2008. Judgments of cause and blame: the effects of intentionality and foreseeability. Cognition 108:754–70
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Laskin ER. 2000. How parental liability statutes criminalize and stigmatize minority mothers. Am. Crim. Law Rev. 37:1195–217
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Madison v. Alabama 139 S. Ct. 718 2019.
  45. Mantler J, Schellenberg EG, Page JS. 2003. Attributions for serious illness: Are controllability, responsibility, and blame different constructs?. Can. J. Behav. Sci. 35:2142–52
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Melton G, Petrila J, Poythress NG, Slobogin C. 2007. Psychological Evaluations for the Courts: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers New York: Guilford
  47. Miller D. 2011. Sentencing elderly criminal offenders. Natl. Acad. Elder Law Atty. J. 7:221–46
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Moye J, Marson DC. 2007. Assessment of decision-making capacity in older adults: an emerging area of practice and research. J. Gerontol. B 62:P3–11
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Pantell RH. 2017. The child witness in the courtroom. Pediatrics 139:3e20164008
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Pearson KC. 2013. Filial support laws in the modern era: domestic and international comparison of enforcement practices for laws requiring adult children to support indigent parents. Elder Law J 20:269–302
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Planned Parenthood v. Danforth 428 U.S. 52 1976.
  52. Poythress NG, Nicholson R, Otto RK, Edens J, Bonnie R et al. 1999. MacCAT–CA: The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool–Criminal Adjudication Odessa, FL: Psychol. Assess. Resour.
  53. Presbyterian Medical Center v. Budd 832 A. 2d 1066 2003.
  54. Preston CB, Crowther BT. 2012. Infancy doctrine inquiries. Santa Clara Law Rev 52:47–80
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Otto RK, Musick JE, Sherrod CB. 2010. ILK: Inventory of Legal Knowledge Professional Manual Lutz, FL: Prof. Assess. Resour.
  56. Redlich AD, Goodman GS. 2003. Taking responsibility for an act not committed: the influence of age and suggestibility. Law Hum. Behav. 27:141–56
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Rogers R, Tillbrook CB, Sewell KW. 2004. ECST–R: Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial–Revised Professional Manual Lutz, FL: Prof. Assess. Resour.
  58. Roper v. Simmons 543 U.S. 551 2005.
  59. Savoy v. Savoy 433 Pa. Super. Ct. 549 1994.
  60. Scott ES, Reppucci ND, Woolard JL. 1995. Evaluating adolescent decision making in legal contexts. Law Hum. Behav. 19:3221–44
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Shaver KG. 1985. The Attribution of Blame: Causality, Responsibility, and Blameworthiness New York: Springer-Verlag
  62. Shoemaker D. 2011. Attributability, answerability, and accountability: toward a wider theory of moral responsibility. Ethics 121:3602–32
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Shulman KI, Cohen CA, Kirsh FC, Hull IM, Champine PR. 2007. Assessment of testamentary capacity and vulnerability to undue influence. Am. J. Psychiatry 164:722–27
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Simourd L, Andrews D. 1994. Correlates of delinquency: a look at gender differences. Forum Correct. Res. 6:26–31
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Sisaket K. 2015. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for them: encouraging family caregiving of indigent parents through filial responsibility laws. Hamline J. Public Law Policy 36:269–104
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Skeem JL, Golding SL, Cohn NB, Berge G. 1998. Logic and reliability of evaluations of competence to stand trial. Law Hum. Behav. 22:5519–47
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Soc. Secur. Adm. 2020. Retirement benefits Publ., Soc. Secur. Adm. Washington, DC.: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10035.pdf
  68. Steinberg L, Cauffman E, Woolard J, Graham S, Banich M. 2009. Are adolescents less mature than adults? Minors’ access to abortion, the juvenile death penalty, and the alleged APA “flip-flop. .” Am. Psychol. 64:583–94
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Tomaszewski AL. 2005. From Columbine to Kazaa: parental liability in a new world. Univ. Ill. Law Rev. 2005.573–99
    [Google Scholar]
  70. U.S. v. Bullion 466 F.3d 574 (7th Cir 2006.
  71. US Sentencing Comm. 2018. The 2018 Sentencing Guidelines Manual accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines
  72. Wellman AR, Hazen KA, Brank EM. 2017. Parental blame frame: an empirical examination of the media's portrayal of parents and their delinquent juveniles. Whittier Law J. Child Fam. Advocacy 16:187–130
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Williams BA, Stern MF, Mellow J, Safer M, Greifinger RB. 2012. Aging in correctional custody: setting a policy agenda for older prisoner health care. Am. J. Public Health 102:81475–81
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Wylie LE, Brank EM. 2009. Assuming elder care responsibility: Am I a caregiver?. J. Empir. Leg. Stud. 6:4899–924
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Wylie LE, Brank EM, Bornstein BH. 2015.. “ Now dear, what do you remember?” Patronizing communication and older eyewitnesses’ memory performance. J. Forensic Psychol. 33:37–66
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Wylie LE, Knutson A, Greene E. 2018. A review of federal and state compassionate release laws: presence, utilization, and implications. Psychol. Public Policy Law 24:216–34
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Zapf PA, Roesch R, Pirelli G 2014. Assessing competency to stand trial. The Handbook of Forensic Psychology IB Weiner, RK Otto 281–314 Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 4th ed..
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Zuscak S, Coyle I, Keyzer P, Machin MA. 2019. The marriage of psychology and law: testamentary capacity. Psychiatry Psychol. Law 26:4614–43
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-021721-091626
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