Adolescent Brain Development - the Youth Advocacy Division

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, THE REST OF THEIR LIVES: LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR YOUTH
IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2008 (2008).
• Executive Summary of report examining juvenile life without parole in the U.S. Discusses
crimes that can lead to LWOP, sentencing practices across the states, racially discriminatory
sentencing, violent experiences that youth have had in prison, international standards regarding
JLWOP, and recommendations for legislatures. Updated in 2008.
A.B.A. RECOMMENDATION 105C, Mitigating Circumstances in Sentencing Youthful Offenders
(2008).
• ABA Recommendation calling for less punitive sentences for children under 18, recognition of
youth as a mitigating factor in sentencing, and parole or early release eligibility for youthful
offenders.
• “The American Bar Association has a long history of recognizing that youth under 18 who are
involved with the justice system should be treated differently than those who are 18 or older.
• The ABA’s overall approach to juvenile justice policies has been and continues to be to strongly
protect the rights of youthful offenders within all legal processes while insuring public safety.
Central to this ABA premise is the understanding that youthful offenders have lesser culpability
than adult offenders due to the typical behavioral characteristics inherent in adolescence. It is
understood that they can and do commit delinquent and criminal acts that have an impact on
public safety, but these actors nonetheless are developmentally different. They are not adults and
do not have fully-formed adult characteristics.” (Introduction)
Allstate Advertisement, WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 17, 2007.
• Insurance ad advocating for graduated driver licensing laws on the basis of adolescent brain
development. The ad pictures an image of a brain with a car-shaped hole and reads, “Why do
most 16-year-olds drive like they’re missing a part of their brain? BECAUSE THEY ARE.”
• “Even bright, mature teenagers sometimes do things that are ‘stupid.’
But when that happens, it’s not really their fault. It’s because their brain hasn’t finished
developing. The underdeveloped area is called the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. It plays a
critical role in decision making, problem solving and understanding future consequences of
today’s actions. Problem is, it won’t be fully mature until they’re into their 20s.”
Less Guilty By Reason of Adolescence, Issue Brief (MacArthur Found. Res. Network on Adolescent Dev.
& Juv. Just., 2006. http://www.adjj.org/downloads/6093issue_brief_3.pdf (last visited May 19, 2010)
- Explains “immaturity gap” in adolescents who are intellectually mature but more impulsive,
short-sighted, and susceptible to peer influence than adults, and argues that juveniles are less
culpable than adults because of their immaturity. Advocates for a separate system for juvenile
offenders.
ABA Online: Adolescence, Brain Development and Legal Culpability, (2004)
http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/Adolescence.pdf (.pdf. format)
• Concise overview of the implications of adolescent brain development science on the juvenile
justice system
National Institute of Mental Health, Teenage Brain: A Work in Progress (2001).
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/teenbrain.cfm
• Brief article summarizing some of the teenage brain studies performed by 2001.
• “Using functional MRI (fMRI), a team led by Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd at Harvard's McLean
Hospital scanned subjects' brain activity while they identified emotions on pictures of faces
displayed on a computer screen. Young teens, who characteristically perform poorly on the task,