iJuvenile Issues BE ABLE TO INTERPRET MMPI FOR MIDTERM Brain Development Figure in PowerPoint o Bluer it gets the more developed it is o Prefrontal cortex helps you not do stupid stuff Controls planning reasoning decision making logic o From a brain development standpoint people s brains aren t fully developed until they are in their mid twenties o It s in a constant state of change o Developmental process changes more quickly in adolescence Key Juvenile Decisions All of the following are Supreme Court Cases Roper v Simmons 2005 o No death penalty for crimes committed as an adolescent o Heavily relied on psychological sociological science o Emphasized the issues of maturity self control impulsivity and planning All frontal lobe stuff Graham v Florida 2010 committed before someone turned 18 Miller v Alabama 2012 o Unconstitutional to give life without parole for a non homicide crime o Expanded on Graham decision o Any crime even homicide cannot receive life without parole if committed before age 18 Transfer Laws 1 Potential Dangerousness how risky they are o Need to depend on structured guided clinical judgment o EARL 20B EARL 21G Early Assessment Risk List for Boys o SAVRY Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth o Family variables developmental issues look at individual issues and o Juveniles are much more susceptible to their social environment than social characteristics adults are Important to know about their peer group when determining adolescent risk 2 Sophistication maturity how adult like they appear to be o Typically estimated by Age older mature Physical development literally do they look older Crime severity o Need to evaluate Ability to accept responsibility Perspective taking ability Impulse control self restraint 3 Amenability to treatment susceptible to treatment o Treatment history o Psychopathy antisocial orientation Treatment doesn t usually work because they cannot be treated not because they don t want to be treated Evidence that treatment can make psychopaths worse Shouldn t be pinning psychopathy on youth because they re not Just need to contain them fully developed Some states do not have a minimum age at which they can be transferred to adult court some states have the age as low as 10 years old Bad proxies for maturity Juvenile Risk Factors Antisocial personality orientation conduct disorder o Problematic behavior getting into a lot of fights etc Lack of peer relationships Negative peer associations Interpersonal aggression o Getting into lots of fights Escalation of anger negative affect Poor self regulation impulsivity o Even more so than typical adolescents High stress family environment Problematic relationship with parent s Lack of parental support Due Process of Juveniles In re Gault decision o Required the following Notice of the charges Right to an attorney Right to confront cross examine witnesses against him Privilege against self incrimination o Formalized the juvenile system In adult court you cannot be forced testify against your spouse BUT in juvenile court parents can be forced to testify against their kid s Juveniles and Miranda Do they have the developmental capacity to understand them o Juveniles misunderstand Miranda warnings at twice the rates of adults 55 vs 23 o Younger than 15 have significantly greater misunderstanding o History of court experience does not improve Miranda understanding o Over half of adolescents don t understand what it means to be Miranda ed Don t fully understand the impact Are Juveniles Competent Competence mental health MR or maturity o Research gives serious doubt as to whether 13 and 14 year olds would be competent o 12 year olds would not have competence o Due to development Parental Responsibility Parental Responsibility Laws o Pay fines o Go to court o Attend parenting classes Massachusetts CHINS o CHINS o Parent requested probation Child In Need of Services Parent guardian initiated Juvenile Sex Offenders Assumptions o Smaller versions of adults o Different from other juvenile offenders Juvenile sex offenders are less likely to reoffend than juvenile non sex offenders that have had another offense Assessment Issues for Reoffending No real actuarials Hard to evaluate someone who has so much developmental change to go through Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool JSORRAT Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol JSOAP II o Can t use adult models on adolescents Do they have deviant sexual interest AKA Will he she reoffend primary sexual interest is towards pre pubescent o Deviant sexual interest and or non consenting persons o Having more than one victim o Having a stranger as a victim o Social isolation o Those who don t complete treatment o Parent child problems o More impulsivity o Negative peer influences o Problematic life at home Similar to normal juvenile reoffending About 20 of adult sex offenders have adolescent onset sexually deviant o Figure is from self reports and from crime records Pre puberty and post puberty line is an important distinction when we talk about behaviors reoffending