Health and Justice for Youth Campaign
Emerging Issues in Adolescent Brain Development: Implications for Youth in the Justice System
PHR Workshop for the Child Welfare League of America
At the recent national conference of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), held in Washington, DC, February 26-28, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) facilitated a workshop on research in adolescent brain development and its implications for juvenile justice reform.
During the workshop, presenter David Fassler, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and clinical director of Otter Creek Associates, described research results indicating that the behavioral immaturity of adolescents mirrors the anatomical immaturity of their brains. During adolescence, behavior is influenced by the amygdala, the region of the brain associated with primitive impulses of aggression, anger, and fear. As youth grow into adults, brain activity shifts to the frontal lobes, which are responsible for decision making, risk assessment, the ability to judge future consequences, evaluating reward and punishment, behavioral inhibition, impulse control and making moral judgments. Research has shown that this significant neurological change does not fully mature until well beyond age eighteen.
Michelle Ayesh, Health and Justice for Youth Campaign coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights, discussed the legal implications of these medical findings, noting in particular the importance of the Supreme Court's consideration of brain development in its decision to abolish the juvenile death penalty (Roper v. Simmons, 2005). This ruling distinguished between adolescence and adulthood, paving the way to applying a medical perspective to other aspects of juvenile justice where children are still held to adult standards. Across the country, states are now using the developmental perspective as a reason for raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to eighteen, limiting youth transfer to the adult system, removing youth from adult facilities and reducing life sentences.
As developmental health becomes a primary consideration in juvenile justice policy, it is imperative that this perspective also be incorporated into developmentally appropriate services to address delinquency. Successful programs focus on rehabilitation and accountability, providing support services, education, vocational training and counseling.
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