Opinion Paper:Adolescents and the Law
Final Instructions
Society has long been ambivalent about risk-taking, law-breaking adolescents. They don’t seem fully adult—and therefore perhaps not fully culpable (responsible) for their actions. Perhaps they can’t truly comprehend the impact of their bad deeds—or perhaps they are too impulsive to stop those bad deeds. And then there is the question of what to do with the law-breakers, once they are caught. Does their immaturity suggest that they should receive less punishment and more rehabilitation than those who are fully adult when the commit the same crime? And since the adolescents will likely one day return to the community, how can they be kept on track to a successful re-entry?
Awareness of the adolescent’s special status (somewhere between childhood and adulthood) has led to the creation of a juvenile justice system that is different from the adult system. This system has been around for decades, but it was challenged in the 1990’s by people reacting to a spike in juvenile and young adult crime, some of it very violent and even repetitive. Adolescent law-breakers were NOT deterred by weak and short punishments, it was argued. Perhaps the harsher adult justice system would set them straight.
This assignment asks you to bring social science data to the discussion about punishment, rehabilitation, and re-entry by those who were teens when they broke the law.
There are two questions which you will consider.
First, what does science tell us about brain development and how it affects behavior, especially risk-taking behavior and impulsivity, which might spill over into law-breaking? Describe the research findings (hint: see the assigned articles and the scaffold’s links on teen brain). Is charging the adolescent as an adult appropriate in light of this research? In your opinion, is youth a “defense” against a claim of culpability or responsibility?
Second, where should an adolescent be held before and after being tried? Is the adult system suitable? (hint: see the scaffold’s links on turning a lawbreaking teen around) What will be the likely outcomes of being held there? Does the adolescent learn the lesson that was intended? Is the adolescent more likely to desist after the tough treatment in adult prison compared to the more lenient treatment in the juvenile system? In what other ways is the teen harmed or benefitted in the adult system? Is there an argument for keeping some young offenders in the community—and not in any detention– with services and safeguards for public safety?
Expectations (use this as a checklist)
:
1. Read all the 3 articles assigned by Professor (Beckman_2004, Bonnie Scott 2013, and Brain Defense: The Young Brain.)
2. Look at the 2 scaffold lists of links to find materials that relate to the two broad questions above. Read or view some of the videos or articles.
3. Choose at least two additional sources to include in your paper. These are in addition to the 3 sources provided by Professor. You may use some of the written sources that I have provided, as long as you find one new source on your own.
4. Write a paper (3-5 pages long) that addresses the 2 issues above. They both come back to the same question: should adolescents under 18 be treated as adults? Express your opinions but support them with research findings. The findings are the critical social science contribution. (You are not expected to use all of the material provided.)
5. Use citations for these findings or quotations, etc. that you report.
6. Attach a works cited list.
7. Don’t mess with your margins (1 inch) or font size (12-point) just to make your paper appear longer. (Really, do you think you’re fooling instructors with that?) I am not docking your grade for length, but a very short paper probably just doesn’t have enough content—that’s the thing. I also don’t deduct points for papers that go beyond the guidelines.
Remember: You will need the following, in addition to this description of the assignment: 3 assigned articles (Beckman 2004, Bonnie Scott 2013 and Brain Defense The Young Brain) and the scaffold lists of videos and articles.
The scaffold lists are called
Lifespan-s 2019 Links for brain science-teen brain
Lifespan-s 2019 Turning a Lawbreaking Teen Around
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